Mushroom & Camembert Wellington

They say good things come in little parcels... well why not invite your date around and give these a try?

 
Ingredients:

• 750g ready-rolled puff pastry – because life’s too short to make pastry!
• 4 medium-sized Portobello mushrooms
• 15g of dried porcini mushrooms
• 200g of chestnut mushrooms
• Thyme leaves
• 2 garlic cloves 
• 2 shallots
• 300g of spinach
• Lemon juice
• 150g of Camembert
• A small egg

 
How to guide:
Preheat the oven to gas mark 7 or 220 °C

Using a pastry cutter or a saucer if you don’t have a pastry cutter, cut out four 12 cm circles of pastry and place on a lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden before removing from the oven and leaving to cool.

Cut out a further four 14 cm circles of pastry and put to one side on non-stick baking paper. 

Fancy touch –
use the trimmings 
to cut out 12 leaves 
for the top of your 
Wellingtons.

Chop off the Portobello mushrooms stalks and fry on a high heat for 3 to 4 minutes - you don't need to use much oil. The mushrooms will release lots of juice so whilst over the heat  turn them frequently so they can re-absorb the liquid. Then remove the mushrooms from the pan and drain on some kitchen roll.

Soak the porcini mushrooms in boiling water for 10 minutes before draining and chopping them finely. Place the frying pan back over a medium heat, add the shallots, garlic, chestnut mushrooms and thyme, season well and fry for 3 to 4 minutes then add the chopped porcini mushrooms and fry for a further 3 to 4 minutes.
 
Pour boiling water over the spinach to wilt it, get rid of excess water by pressing it with a wooden spoon - now put everything together and roughly chop.

Divide everything up between the cooked circles of pastry – be sure to leave approximately a cm border of pastry around the edge. Add a slice of Camembert and a Portobello mushroom to top each circle then brush the edge of each circle with beaten egg.
Gently stretch the larger circle of pastry over the whole thing - try not to make a hole. Press the pastry together and voila, chill the Wellingtons for 10 minutes.

Fancy touch –
once chilled press the
edges together again 
using a fork and top 
with your leaves from 
earlier.

Bake for 25 minutes or until golden and puffed up. Allow the Wellingtons to cool for a few minutes before taking a bite. 

Serve with salad and a squeeze of lemon juice or enjoy on their own. 

Bon appetite!