I am lucky because my husband cooks Christmas dinner in my house and does an incredible job. But it is a lot of work and getting the bird right takes time, care and patience.
So this got me thinking that perhaps it is time to mix things up and have a year when my husband can serve up a fabulous roast without the basting. And frozen food specialists Iceland may just have the answer.
As part of their luxury Christmas range, Iceland will be stocking their 'Luxury Perfect Beef Wellington' with pork and mushroom stuffing wrapped in all butter puff pastry. It says it serves six and is priced at £26, so is it worth it?
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After defrosting in the fridge overnight, the Wellington needs no preparation, so is simple to cook, just popping in the oven. We tend to turn things over in our oven midway through, just because not all ovens are built equally and no one wants a soggy bottom.
So while you are waiting for the Wellington, you can take the time to prepare veggies and gravy, or whatever you might like. I will say, it smelled amazing while cooking and the cute pastry stars were a lovely festive touch.
You are advised to egg wash the pastry ahead of cooking to give it a lovely golden crust. Taking it out and carving it was very grand, you could easily see yourself cutting this rather than a turkey come December 25.
You get a lot of meat in this for £26 and I would say it does serve six, but some people might want a little more meat, so this is the perfect time to add some of the Iceland air fryer-friendly pings in blankets, which take 14 minutes and are delicious. Crispy, salty bacon and succulent preppy sausages that come together for a wonderful umami flavour.
These would be perfect on any Christmas Day meal, or Boxing Day buffet, or maybe just as a snack before Christmas - maybe even later this week.
The knife glides through the meat of the Wellington and the inside was perfectly pink, although I think we cooked ours just a tad too long and the ends of the meat were definitely medium-well, so something to be mindful of. But that can't stop this wonderful showstopper from being delicious.
The crunch from the buttery pastry paired with the melt-in-the-mouth beef is perfection, but for me the real star if the pork and mushroom stuffing - this is incredible, with so much depth of flavour. And there is loads of it, so you can get a bit on every bite for a taste explosion.
I would buy this stuffing just on its own to eat with everything over the festive season, I am still thinking about it now. I would highly recommend Iceland's restaurant standard beef Wellington and this would be an excellent meal to serve on Boxing Day when you don't want to cook again but still impress your guests.
If you are thinking about purchasing the 'Luxury Perfect Beef Wellington' in advance, you will need fridge space the day before you cook it as it needs to be defrosted in the fridge for 12 hours. But it is worth it, and the only real problem is there won't be any leftovers.
You can order the 'Luxury Perfect Beef Wellington' for £26 and the air fryer-friendly 12-pack of pigs in blankets for £2.25 at Iceland along with the rest of their Christmas range available in stores and online from November 12.
