Lamb Wellingtons
These deliciously crispy little beauties may look flash, but they’re not hard to make at all – and the flavours will knock your socks off. I like to think of them as very fancy pies. They’re quicker and easier than their more expensive cousin, the Beef Wellington, and would you just look at them – imagine serving that up to a hungry crowd! This recipes uses lamb rump, which is a lovely tasty cut that’s now easily available all trimmed and ready to go from the supermarket. Now, there will be people that say they don’t like mushrooms and what else can they use instead. I say give the mushrooms a try (unless you’re allergic). Chop them up as finely as you can (pulse them in a food processor to a coarse crumb if you like) and you wont even register it’s mushroom by the time they’re cooked. It tastes AMAZING. Try it.
Serves: 4-6
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes plus resting time
Ingredients
Oil, for frying (rice bran or grape seed)
4 lamb rumps
50g butter (or 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil)
500g mushrooms, very finely chopped
1 cup finely chopped shallots (or onion)
4 cloves NZ garlic, crushed
2 stalks rosemary, leaves pulled off, very finely chopped
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
Zest of 1 lemon plus 1 tsp juice
1 400g block flaky puff pastry (or 4 sheets pre-rolled)
1 free-range egg beaten with 1 tbsp milk or cream
Method
Preheat oven to 210c fan bake (220c conventional bake).
Bring the lamb rumps out of the fridge 20 minutes before cooking. Trim the rumps of any fat (if the thick ‘cap’ of fat and skin is still on, it’s best to remove it – although most lamb rumps come pre-trimmed these days). Pat the lamb dry with paper towels and season with all over salt and pepper.
Heat butter in a pan over a medium-low heat. Add the mushrooms, shallots/onion, garlic rosemary and thyme. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 20 minutes until everything is very soft and mushy. Stir through the mustard, lemon zest and juice and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Heat 1 tbsp rice bran or grape seed oil in a frying pan over a very high heat. When it’s very hot, add the lamb rumps two at a time, and brown on both sides – only about 30 seconds per side. Set aside on a wooden board and repeat with the other rumps. Cool slightly.
Roll out the pastry on a floured benchtop. Whether you’re rolling out a block or using pre-rolled sheets, you still need to roll the pastry out, as it needs to be about ¾ the thickness of a standard pre-rolled sheet, about 2-3 mm.
Divide the mushroom layer into 4 portions (one for each rump). Press half of one portion of the mushroom mixture in a layer on the top of one lamb rump. Gently place the lamb mushroom-side-down on a piece of pastry. Press the rest of the portion in a thin layer on top.
Brush the pastry edges with water, then fold up from the sides so the pastry overlaps by about 1cm at the top (brush both sides of the seam with water to seal). Trim the ends to about 2cm, then press crimp firmly with a finger all the way along the edges to seal.
Place the Wellington seam-side down on a baking tray lined with baking paper, and repeat with the remaining lamb.
Brush the Wellingtons all over with egg wash, then use a sharp knife to cut a couple of steam holes in the tops.
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes for medium-rare (about 20 minutes for well done). Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
To serve, you can either serve the Wellingtons whole, in halves or thirds.
Tips
- A light eater could probably do with half a Wellington – while someone hungry (like my husband) could easily eat a whole one.
- If the pastry is too thick, it won’t cook properly by the time the lamb is ready.
- If you can find porcini powder at a specialty food store, I recommend adding ¾ teaspoon to the mushroom mixture – it adds an amazing depth of flavour.
What would you recommend I serve this delicious recipe with? Ie. a starch and green? Dessert? Many thanks
Hello…could you make this in advance to the pastry stage and then leave them or would they go too soggy?
I made this last night… what a winner
I sometimes use defrosted spinach cubes instead of mushrooms as it gives another vege and merges well without too much flavour.
Hi Chelsea
Do you think I could prepare the rumps and filling in the morning then just assemble everything with the pastry at dinner time or is it best all done at once? Also, my sisters don’t eat Lamb so if i did 1/2 with beef what cut would you recommend?
Thanks :)
For those that don’t like Mushrooms I often just use a favourite Pate.
Hope this helps.
I made this tonight and it was good. I did find though that a lot of liquid came out of them and the bottom on the pastry was soggy because of this. Would this be from cooking them too long? I prefer meat more well done so I had cooked them longer.
Yes, that will probably be the reason as the moisture is forced out of the meat cooked at high temps for too long :)
Can I sear the lamb rumps a little earlier than putting them in the pastry and in the oven? Have a heap of people coming over so it’s going to be hectic and thinking I could do it in 2 stages so timing is right for those who will inevitably be late.
You sure can, Ross.
a couple of questions here, can I cut the rumps into nice size? If they are 500gms each will 10 mins cooking be enough? And lastly what kind of gravey/sauce would be good with this
im really keen to try this, just wondering is it a good idea to cool the mushroom mixture before putting it on the lamb nd pastry? And can I trim a lamb rump to size? Also if the approx 500g each is 10 mins ample cooking time? One more thing, what kind of sauce or gravy could be served with this meal?
I made this tonight and it was delicious. As I didn’t have Dijon mustard I substituted Tewksbury Mustard (mustard with horseradish) which seemed to work well (I kind of forgot it was lamb not beef) Thanks Chelsea for another great recipe!
Yum!
Hi Chelsea,
As an avid cook for such a long time now I found it interesting that you allowed only 10 minutes for the lamb/ pastry to cook. Admittedly I used the bought flakey pastry sheets but I did roll them out to make them a little thinner a u suggested. However after 10mins they were definately not cooked so decided to give them a bit longer. Maybe it was becaused I used 2 silver fern lamb steaks that caused the problem?. OR was it that I used already made frozen pastry. Any ideas why I have had a problem cooking these beautiful lamb steaks with bought flakey pastry. ????
Cheers, Sarah.
Hi Chelsea
What is the approx size and weight of the lamb rump?
Thanks John
Hi Chelsea,
I am very excited about cooking this on Saturday, I have my parents visiting.
Sorry if this is a silly question, but what size approximately are the lamb wellingtons? My butcher sold me x2 lamb rumps, do I now cut the rumps into steaks? if so, what weight would you suggest, cooking for ten mins to achieve medium rare?
Thanks so much for your help! :)
Hi Lucy, use a whole rump for each one, however make sure you take the big thick skin/ fat layer off the top.
This is outstanding, whole family loved it including the kids! This will become a frequent in our house! Yummo!!
What would be the best cut of beef to use in this recipe as an alternative to the lamb?
You could use sections of eye fillet about the same size.
Hi Chelsea could you use a good cut of venison say back steaks for this dish??
Sure thing Dylan!
That looks so yummy!!
Just wondering what I could substitute, instead of the mushrooms in your lamb Wellington recipe ??? I have some fussy eaters. Thank you.
You could try a couple of onions chopped and fried down to a nice caramelised paste?
I have always wanted to make this but don’t like mushrooms is there a alternative instead of using mushrooms?
You could try a couple of onions chopped and fried down to a nice caramelised paste?