Christmas Ideas. Part 2. Beef fillet in crust, speck & mushrooms
Very similar to the previous recipe but with beef fillet, speck and mushrooms. Everything is wrapped and cooked inside a "nest" of puff pastry. Speck is a type of lightly smoked and aged ham (prosciutto) rubbed/massaged with a mix of spices like juniper, bay leaves etc. This spiced cure gives speck a deeper taste that's more intense than prosciutto crudo. It's typically made in South Tyrol and gives a unique flavor especially when paired with mushrooms which with their intense aromas makes you feel a virtual journey into a mountain chalet. Enjoy!
Ingredients : 800 gr fillet of beef , 300 gr mushrooms, 2 carrots, 200 gr thinly sliced speck, 1 rectangular puff pastry, 1 yolk / 2 tbs milk , 50 gr butter, 2 cloves of garlic, oil, salt
Method:
Turn on the oven at 180 ° C / 356 °F
1.Massage the beef fillet with salt. Let it rest for 10 min.
2.In a pan heat 50 g of butter.
3. When it is melted and hot, brown the fillet on all sides for 10 – 15 min
4. Cut the carrot into small pieces. In a large pan heat the oil with the garlic. Add mushrooms and carrot and cook for 15 minutes until they are very dry and withered ( They must not have moisture. Humidity would damage the pastry)
5. Roll out the puff pastry (without removing its baking paper)
6.Cover the pastry with the speck
7.Cover completely with a generous layer of mushrooms
8.Position above the fillet steak
9.Close the dough around the meat by pulling up the baking paper.
10.Make the dough adhere (with your hands and a fork) well.
11.Transfer the fillet to the pan, brush with the yolk and milk mix.
12. With a knife cut the surface creating a grid. (Follow the photo gallery)
Bake for 45 min at 180 ° C Remove from the oven, let it rest for 15 – 20 minutes, cut it into slices.
Serve with polenta or mashed potatoes
Polenta: For this recipe has been used “instant” polenta Valsugana typical of northen Italy. Cooking takes only 8 min. As an alternative to polenta, the fillet can be served – and is delicious too – with mashed potatoes.
POLENTA. For 2 persons: 180 gr instant polenta, 900 ml water. Bring the water to boil. Add polenta and a pinch of salt. With a whisk mix costantly to prevent lumps formation. Cook on low heat for 8 min.
Serve hot with a fillet slice on top.
See the step by step gallery below
Enogastronomista 
Super! Super! Delicious!
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11 December 2020 at 21:21
Haha thank you very very much O Miau do Leao!
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12 December 2020 at 17:11
Great looking recipe!
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11 December 2020 at 22:43
Thank you Charlie, glad you like it!
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12 December 2020 at 17:49
This looks amazing! My mouth is watering!
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11 December 2020 at 23:16
Hi Nancy! Thank you very much! You absolutely have to prepare it, it’s really delicious
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12 December 2020 at 17:07
Ça a vraiment fière allure les viandes en croûte 👩🍳
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11 December 2020 at 23:29
Merci Kakuma!💕 Le secret est de ne pas “sécher” la viande, lors de la première cuisson doit avoir max 35 C
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12 December 2020 at 17:04
Comment on peut savoir que l’on ne dépasse pas 35°C?
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12 December 2020 at 22:06
*quand on n’a pas de thermomètre 😆
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12 December 2020 at 22:09
🙃 Mieux vaut l’avoir pour cette recette Kakuma !
S’il est très cuit à ce stade, pendant la seconde cuisson (45 min), la viande deviendra tres sèche…
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12 December 2020 at 23:19
Oui j’imagine, et ça ferait pareil pour la cuisse de dinde?
LikeLiked by 1 person
12 December 2020 at 23:30
Non non! La cuisse de dinde est entièrement cuite dans une poêle en 45 min. Voyez si elle est prête avec le test de cure-dent. La deuxième cuisson de la dinde au four est seulemant pour cuire la pâte feuilletée!
Le boeuf, au contraire est très peu cuit à la poêle et longtemps au four.
LikeLiked by 1 person
12 December 2020 at 23:55
D’accord 👍 😊
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13 December 2020 at 0:07
🤗😘👍👋
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13 December 2020 at 0:18
What exactly means “instant” polenta ?
LikeLiked by 2 people
12 December 2020 at 17:37
Hi pozeDECAT! Thank you for this question. Instant polenta is precooked. And then dried again, thus reducing the cooking time to 8 min. The classic polenta must be cooked for 1 hour but you have to mix continuously with a spoon by your hand. For this reason there are special copper casseroles with an electric accessory which continuously mixes the polenta for 1 hour. Very common in north Italy. Obviously I must say that the classic long-cooked polenta is much tastier than the pre-cooked one.
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12 December 2020 at 18:16
Thank you! Although as a Romanian i know several ways of preparing polenta, i never heard of the instant one 🙂
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12 December 2020 at 23:37
I didn’t know it! I thought the instant version was a common product. I was wrong. Thank you too about this info. In Italy it is a well known product. The brand I used is “Polenta Valsugana”. I leave the link below👋
https://www.polentavalsugana.it/prodotti
LikeLiked by 1 person
13 December 2020 at 0:12
… we tend to keep it ( “mămăligă” ) primitive 🙂 ” https://www.argumentpress.ro/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/mamaliga1.jpg
LikeLiked by 2 people
13 December 2020 at 11:47
Oh yes! The best way to cook mamaliga! With the addition of branza I can imagine how good it tastes. You made me hungry!! 😀
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13 December 2020 at 12:01
Even better with pork cheese 😉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lxuQM6vrDE
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13 December 2020 at 16:56
looks yummy!
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13 December 2020 at 0:02
Thank you so much Digital Empire! 👋
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13 December 2020 at 0:15
… Solo viendo, sin necesidad de oler, te abre el apetito. Me gusta. Salud y saludos.
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17 December 2020 at 1:09
😆 Ohh thank you Inaki, glad you like it even without a trace of smell ! Muchos saludos.
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17 December 2020 at 16:03
My mouth is watering. This looks SO delicious!
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27 December 2020 at 15:09
😄 It was! You have to do it! It seems complicated but it’s very easy and fast!
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27 December 2020 at 19:06