Ingredients:
10g dried porcini mushrooms
50g butter
2 shallots, finely chopped
300g mixed mushrooms
1 sprig thyme, leaves picked
200ml Madeira
2tbsp double cream
1tbsp vegetable oil
500g beef fillet
250g ready-made all-butter puff pastry
1 egg, beaten, to glaze
1 tbsp poppy seeds

Method:
1. To make mushroom paste, soak dried porcini in 150ml boiling water for 20 minutes. Reserving the soaking water, squeeze mushrooms and finely chop.

2. Melt butter in frying pan over medium heat and cook shallots until pale and golden. Add mixed mushrooms, porcini and thyme, and cook until the mushrooms have softened. Pour in 150ml of the Madeira, season, turn up the heat and cook until the wine has evaporated.

3. Scoop three quarters of the mixture into a bowl and put the rest aside. Add the double cream to the bowl, season to taste and set aside.

4. Preheat oven and a flat baking sheet to 220 degrees. Heat the oil in a frying pan over a high heat and, when smoking, add the fillet and sear on all sides until well browned and crusted. Season generously and allow to cool. Don’t wash the pan yet – you’ll need it for the sauce.

5. Roll out the pastry to a rectangle a bit wider than your fillet, long enough to wrap it in and 3mm thick. Brush it all over with beaten egg then spread the mushroom paste over it.

6. Put the beef on top of the paste at one end of the pastry and carefully roll it up, making sure the join is on the bottom. Trim the edges and tuck them in to seal the parcel, using a fork to press the edges together.

7. Brush the outside of the pastry with beaten egg and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Put the Wellington on the hot baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, until golden, then rest for 15 minutes.

8. Meanwhile, make the sauce. Heat the pan in which you seared the beef and pour in the remaining Madeira. Add the reserved mushrooms and porcini liquid and allow to reduce slightly. Taste and season.

9. Serve the Wellington with the sauce and vegetables of your choice.