West Tisbury Lamb Wellington

8 thick slices sour dough bread; stale

1 quart whole milk

1 3/4 lb boiled rosemary ham; minced

3 tablespoon olive oil

1 3/4 pounds butter; unsalted

4 small onions; minced

1/4 cup herbs de Provence; or other herbs to taste

2 lb mushroom caps; thinly sliced

4 tablespoon parsley; finely chopped

6 large eggs

1/2 cup lamb seasoning; (optional)

2 small legs of lamb

4 packages phyllo dough

Make the stuffing the day before:  Trim crusts from the bread and soak the slices in milk, squeeze dry.  Sautee the minced onion in olive oil until soft, add the sliced mushroom caps and continue cooking until soft.

Combine minced ham, the sauteed onions and mushrooms, herbs de Provence, finely chopped sparsely, and the squeezed bread. Lightly beat four eggs and add to the mixture.  Knead the mixture with your hands until it is well mixed and the stuffing holds together when you grab a handful. Refrigerate, covered until the next day.

If your phyllo pastry is frozen, thaw in refrigerator overnight and then let it sit at room temperature for two hours (follow the directions on the box).  You can also make your own phyllo from scratch (or you can use puff pastry) - but we find the box from the store works very well.

Bone the lamb legs.  Remove the fell (tough membrane covering the leg) and as much of the silver (thinner membranes throughout the leg)  as possible. Remove as many tendons and as much fat as possible - you want to keep the meat in fairly large chunks.  Pound the meat to flatten it.  Rub with lamb seasoning (or salt and ground black pepper).  Sear the meat in a little oil over high heat until it is brown on all sides but do not cook it all the way.  The lamb can be done the day before up to this point, and kept covered and refrigerated until the next day.

Preheat an oven to 400F.

Melt 1 3/4 pounds butter in a small saucepan.  Blot each piece of lamb dry and cut it into two inch wide strips.

Unwrap the phyllo and place it on a slightly damp kitchen towel.  Cover with another damp kitchen towel and keep the dough covered as much as possible.  On a flexible baking sheet (the new silicone baking sheets work really well) lay out one layer of phyllo.  With a pastry brush, paint the sheet with melted butter.  Add one more layer of phyllo and cover with butter.  Continue until you have 9 or 10 layers of dough and butter.

About an inch from the long side of the stack of dough, lay out a two inch wide strip of filling.  Top with strips of lamb.  Top with a little more filling.  Using the flexible baking sheet to help, roll the meat and filling up into a log shape.  Fold the ends of the log in.  Brush the log with melted butter on all sides, making sure the outer edge and ends of the log are sealed.

Place seal side down on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Make more rolls until you run out of lamb.  Beat up the two remaining eggs with two tablespoons water to make an egg wash.  Coat the top, sides and ends of the rolls with the egg wash.

Put in at 400F and immediately turn down to 350F.  Bake at 350F for about 30 minutes or until golden brown and internal temperature of 150 to 155F for lamb,  (160-165F for venison), (125-130F for beef), (165F for chicken or turkey).

Carefully remove the wellingtons to a serving dish, using two big spatulas. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Note: Two small legs of lamb made 7 wellingtons and took 3 1/2 boxes of phyllo dough.  Serves 70 as appetizers or 30 as a main course.  The recipe is easy to cut down or expand depending on how much meat you have.  Other tender, lean cuts of meat such as venison, beef or chicken would also do well made this way.