Mother’s Day Chicken Wellington
Just sometimes, inspiration comes from strange places, like binge-watching food programmes on Youtube. Mother’s Day was looming in the near future and I thought that an intimate dinner at home would be in order, but I was at a loss for ideas. This is, until we watched an episode of Masterchef Australia. It was a pressure test of keeping up with the chef, none other than Jamie Oliver. The contestants had to make a chicken wellington while keeping up with the chef. What a blast!
Of course, I have the advantage of watching from the couch and was able to piece together the recipe afterwards, not having to cope with the unknown factor and associated stress of the competition. This recipe seemed not too difficult and I was able to make my own adjustments in the process. I have never cooked a beef wellington or any other pastry dish before, so the idea struck me as worthwhile. We normally would have meat on the braai or a stewed dish of some description, mostly Southeast Asian dishes. We like the spices.
This new idea was inspirational. The dish was relatively easy to make, if somewhat messy in stuffing the chicken. I made steamed courgettes and some carrots, and potato mash as side dishes. The leftover duxelles were added to the romain sauce to make a cheesy mushroom and onion sauce. The vegetables were very lightly seasoned, as the sauce was quite salty. Ditto for the stuffed chicken breasts.
The mash was finished to a more mushy consistency as opposed to drier, to set off the puff pastry of the wellingtons. Chicken breasts are notorious for cooking fast and becoming dry, which is an abomination. The cooking time for the wellingtons may vary in accordance with your oven’s characteristics. I made two wellingtons. This is enough for four portions; the puff pastry and stuffing adds a lot of bulk to the dish.
All in all, a worthwhile dish for a special occasion.
Ingredients
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| Mise en place |
Enough for four portions
For the wellingtons
Two boneless chicken breasts
250 g store-bought puff pastry
1 egg for the egg-wash
Stuffing
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| Stuff properly |
Three shallots, finely diced
250g of mushrooms, coarsely diced. I used 150g of mixed exotic mushrooms and some Portabella mushrooms
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 cup dry white wine
For the sides
Four medium potatoes
250 g mixed courgettes
3 medium carrots
Go easy on the starchy veggies, there is a lot of pastry on the plate
For the sauce
A knob of butter
1 dessertspoon all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons cream cheese
Leftover stuffing
Some salt and pepper to taste
Some butter and warm milk for the mash
Small sprig of parsley for the mash, finely diced
Method
Start with the duxelles and the chicken breasts. These need to cool down before assembly, so no rush. Lightly oil a pan on medium heat, add the diced shallots and sweat them down. Then add the diced mushrooms and cook them down until almost dry. Add the wine and the thyme and reduce to a mushy consistency. This is what gives the moisture for the wellingtons.
Remove the duxelles from the pan and set aside to cool. Add some more oil and a knob of butter to the pan and fry the chicken breasts until they have a slight brown outer. They need to be underdone still, as they are going into the oven for twenty minutes to half an hour. You certainly don’t want overcooked chicken. Remove from the pan and set them aside to cool.
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| Lightly brown the chicken |
Switch on the oven to heat up. You need the oven at 180 degrees C. To assemble the wellingtons, you are going to stuff the chicken breasts. Make a lengthwise slit in the thickness of the chicken breast to form a pocket. This is the messy part. Stretch the pocket with your finger, taking care not to break the chicken breast. Stuff this pocket with the duxelles, making sure that the stuffing equals the amount of chicken meat. This is what will keep the chicken moist during cooking in the oven.
Divide the pastry into two squares. Use these for the wrapping of the chicken. This is where you may let your imagination go wild. I folded the chicken in diaper fashion, not worrying too much about presentation. This is after all the Zietsman household, not a Masterchef competition entry. Make sure that the pastry enfolds the chicken and is sealed properly. Scramble the egg and apply the wash to the upper of the pastry. Pop these into the oven at 180 degrees C for 20 minutes. If the party looks a bit pale, bake for another 10-15 minutes, checking at 5 minute intervals for the right colour.
Now make the sauce while the wellingtons are baking. Start with a knob of butter and a dessert spoon of flour. Fry this on medium heat while stirring continuously, until the flour starts going darker, then you know that it is cooked properly. Add warm milk a little at a time and keep on stirring. The sauce will thicken as you stir. Add milk until you get the consistency that you want. This is a very personal matter. Congratulations, you have just made a béchamel sauce. Now add the cream cheese and stir until the sauce is just beginning to boil. Now you have a romain sauce. Add the leftover stuffing to the sauce to make a cheesy mushroom sauce. Adjust the consistency with warm milk. You will notice that there is no salt in the sauce. The cream cheese I used has enough salt, but you may need some salt to taste.
The vegetables may be steamed, fried or baked. I only have one oven so baking them is out. I steamed them over the boiling potatoes. Once these are done and the mash made, you can dish up. I added some finely chopped parsley to the mash.
Then set the table, open a bottle of wine and enjoy an intimate dinner.
Bon appetit.
Authored by Johan Zietsman
Last edited on 12 May 2025
