Do you ever wonder where ideas in your head come from? How you can have not thought about something for four years and then it randomly pops into your head? As happens nearly every Saturday night, it got to 5pm a few weeks ago and we had no idea what to have for dinner. I had mushrooms, I had mince and my brain had mince wellington.

I first made this recipe back in 2011 but as with most of my photos back then, they were shockingly bad. I mean you’d probably look at them and be put off making the recipe the photos make it look so bad. A few weeks ago I got a fancy new light so I can take decent photos at night without them being all yellow from the kitchen lights. This was my first shoot.

This is a dinner that can be thrown together pretty quickly. You can add veges the mince to make it pretty healthy. Really it’s like a giant sausage roll but with a bit less pastry. The mushrooms and mustard are a bit like having sauce on the inside.

It also freezes pretty well. We ate half that night then I vacuum sealed the rest and popped it in the freezer. It was as good as fresh after heating it up in the oven a week or so later. Enjoy!

So what about you? Do you wonder where your thoughts come from?

Mince Wellington

serves 6, 225 calories per serve (excluding salad or veges)

Ingredients

2 tsp oil
2 medium brown onions finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped (I used minced garlic from the jar)
200g (7oz) button mushrooms, sliced
500g (18oz) lean beef mince
1/2 cup soft fresh breadcrumbs (I used oats as I was out of breadcrumbs and too lazy to make some)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tsp dried oregano leaves
1 1/2 sheets frozen low-fat puff pastry
1 tbs low fat milk
steamed veges (or salad) to serve

Instructions

Heat the oil and saute the onions until soft then add the garlic and stir until fragrant. Remove from the pan.
Cook the mushrooms and remaining garlic until the liquid evaporates. The recipe says 10 minutes but mine took about 15.
Pre-heat your oven to 200C/180C (390F/360F) fan-forced and line a baking tray with baking paper. A trick I learned a little while ago is to put a sheet of alfoil under your baking paper. This eliminates having to clean the tray.
Combine mince, onion mix, breadcrumbs, egg, parsley, half the mustard and oregano and season with salt and pepper.
Lay out a single sheet of pastry and spread the remaining mustard in the middle of the sheet. Spread the mushroom on top of the mustard then shape your mince into a loaf on top. Place the half sheet of pastry over the top then fold the sides up to enclose your filling, pressing the edges to seal.
Carefully place the loaf (seam sides down) on the baking tray, score a few diagonal slits in the top to let out the steam, brush with milk and bake for about 40 minutes or until the pastry is golden and mince is cooked - that's a bit of a guesstimate but mine was perfectly cooked in that time.
Note - I would probably let the mushrooms cool a little before putting them in the pastry next time. They 'melted' the pastry and led to a near disaster when I moved it from the chopping board to the oven tray.
Serve with a steamed veges and enjoy!

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11 Comments

sherry from sherryspickings on December 2, 2014 at 1.07 pm
yep this looks very tasty. i love a good mince dish!:)
- Claire on December 2, 2014 at 5.02 pm
  Me too!
The Life of Clare on December 1, 2014 at 5.29 am
A giant sausage roll for dinner would go down a treat here! I love your new light!
- Claire on December 1, 2014 at 6.29 am
  Haha I bet it would!
Susan: My Food Obsession on October 29, 2010 at 10.07 pm
Yum, looks delicious! I love mince dishes, this looks nicer then the traditional beef wellington.
- Claire on October 29, 2010 at 10.21 pm
  Thanks Susan!
  I just had left overs for dinner and it was just as delicious a day later (although not as crispy).
Rike on October 29, 2010 at 9.45 pm
Hi Claire,
great blog :) I love baking and cooking too and just finished some pink cupcakes for a baby-party tonight…
Hope you’re well, lots of love from Germany :D
RIke
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella on October 29, 2010 at 8.10 pm
That looks like a lovely pie alternative! Did you see that family on tv that lived on mince for a year? Now this would have been a good idea for them :)
- Claire on October 29, 2010 at 9.22 pm
  Wow that would be a challenge. I did stock my freezer when lean mince was on special for $3.99/kg so I might have to find some of their recipes!
Cakelaw on October 29, 2010 at 2.09 pm
This looks and sounds wonderful! A nice twist on beef wellington. I have had a number of scares when filling pastry with hot fillingand it melting at crucial moments.
- Claire on October 29, 2010 at 2.46 pm
  It definitely was. Yes I’m glad I realised that quickly!