SPAM Wellington

Sure, sure beef wellington is a classic dish that calls on a handful of different skills in a chef’s repertoire. It’s an elegant, stunning, festive centerpiece that’s certain to wow even the most experienced guests... but what if we made it with SPAM?! Heh. Why? For no other good reason at all. That’s why :) 🤘🏻Adam

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SPAM Wellington

Ingredients

Puff Pastry

• 500g AP Flour
• 250g Whole Milk
• 150g Unsalted (European) Butter, plus 200g block
• 2g Kosher Salt (½ tsp)

Wellington

• 3 cans SPAM
• 1-2 Tbsp Yellow Mustard
• 500g Mushrooms (7 cups)
• 250g Shallots
• 1g Thyme (2 Tbsp)
• 85g Butter
• 3g Kosher Salt (1 Tbsp)
• Black Pepper
• Cognac
• Prosciutto

Instructions

Puff Pastry

1. Add flour, 150 grams of unsalted European butter and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix until the butter is crumbled into the flour in small granules, no larger than the size of a frozen pea. Slowly stream in the milk until the dough clumps together. Turn the dough out on the counter and quickly shape it into a 4x6 inch rectangle. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate while you work on shaping the butter in the next step.
2. Place the 200g of tempered butter between two sheets of parchment paper and use a rolling pin to flatten it out and a flat tool (palette knife, butter knife, ruler) to shape it to a 8x8 inch square. Place the butter in the fridge and allow it to solidify for at least 1 hour.
3. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll it out onto a floured surface into a flat 16x8 inch rectangle. Keep the sides as straight as possible which will help you when folding the pastry later on. It should be roughly twice as long as it is wide.
4. Remove the butter from the fridge and place it on the bottom half of the rectangle. Fold over the top half of the pastry to cover and 'seal in' the butter.
5. With the folded edge pointing away from you, roll out the pastry to a rectangle roughly 3 times as long as it is wide. Fold the bottom third of the rectangle into the center. Now fold the top third on top of that so the pastry is now three layers thick. Rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
6. Remove from the fridge and place the pastry onto a floured surface with the folded edge perpendicular to you, then repeat step 5 again for a total of 6 times, resting for 30 minutes in the fridge in between each folding.
7. Finally, roll the pastry out to your desired thickness. For our Wellington, it should be about 1/3 inch thick.

Wellington

1. Glue SPAM using Transglutaminase-RM (see video). Set in the fridge.
2. Remove loaf from the fridge, trim (optional) and sear. Brush with spicy mustard and let rest.
3. Make the duxelles by cooking the water out of the chopped mushrooms and shallots in butter. Deglaze with brandy and cook until dried and darkened. Spread thin on a sheet tray and let cool.
4. Lay plastic wrap on a flat surface and set out an even layer of prosciutto onto the plastic wrap. Spread the cooled duxelles onto the prosciutto in a thin 1/3 inch layer leaving about 2 inches of space from the edge of the prosciutto. Place the seared SPAM log in the middle, then grab the end of the plastic wrap and roll the SPAM tightly. Let chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.
5. Unravel more plastic wrap onto a flat surface, then place a squared off piece of puff pastry that’s been rolled out to 1/4 inch thickness in the center. Place the prosciutto wrapped SPAM log in the center facing downwards, then egg wash the entire inside of the pastry around the SPAM log. Connect the two ends of the pastry and pinch to seal, trim the remaining pastry off the sides (see video). Keep the wrapped SPAM log in the fridge while you roll out the piece of pastry for your lattice. Set the oven rack to the second lowest level and preheat the oven to 425 F.
6. Remove the Wellington from the fridge and brush the outside with a heavy coat of egg wash. Carefully lay the lattice crust on top and tuck in the ends. Brush with more egg wash and sprinkle on a pinch of textured salt. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the pastry is golden brown. Allow to rest 10 minutes before slicing.

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