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Beef Wellington

Ready in 1 hr 30 mins + waiting

Recipe by Graham 

Beef Wellington - oh beloved food for an evening with friends (or your partner's boss who you are supposed to impress!). Just occasionally, I get an inkling to make Beef Wellington - the tenderest of Angus beef smeared in mustard or horseradish, smothered with mushroom duxelles, wrapped in Parma ham and put to bed in a cover of golden puff pastry. Traditionally, Beef Wellington was coddled in a layer of pâté, but I prefer the mushrooms and Parma ham version. It's actually a lot easier to make than it looks, and the result is fantastic. A great idea for all beef-lovers (and partner's bosses who need to be impressed!).

Some people use thin pancakes to wrap around their beef. The idea is to stop the pastry getting wet. However, I've always found that overlapping prosciutto works just as well, and tastes 100 times better.

Preparation Time

1 Hour + waiting

Cooking Time

30 Minutes
A Top Choice Recipe for Entertaining

Ingredients for Beef Wellington

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Currently displaying quantities in US Imperial Measurements

To serve 6:

2lb 4oz good beef fillet (preferably Aberdeen Angus)
2 tablespoons olive oil
  salt and pepper
4 medium shallots
2 cloves garlic
2 oz butter
9 oz mixed mushrooms (chestnut, shiitake, porcini etc.)
1 large sprig thyme
3½ fl oz dry white wine
2 teaspoons English mustard OR horseradish sauce
12 slices prosciutto (parma ham)
1lb 2oz puff pastry
  plain flour (all-purpose flour)
2-3 eggs

How to Cook Beef Wellington

  1. Season the fillet generously with salt and freshly-ground black pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan on high heat and sear the fillet on all sides until well browned. Give each side plenty of chance to brown before turning the meat. Remove from the pan and allow to cool, then chill in the fridge for about 20 minutes.
  2. While the beef is cooling, peel and finely chop the shallots and garlic. Melt the butter in a frying pan and gently fry the shallots and garlic until softened but not coloured. Meanwhile, chop the mushrooms as finely as possible so they have the texture of coarse breadcrumbs. (You can use a food processor to do this, but make sure you pulse-chop the mushrooms so they don't become a wet slurry).
  3. Add the mushrooms, along with a large sprig of fresh thyme to the pan with the shallots and garlic. The aim is simply to remove as much water from the mushrooms as possible, so you'll need to cook for about 10 minutes stirring often, until you have a softened but not too wet mixture.
  4. Season the mushroom mixture with salt and freshly-ground black pepper then pour over the dry white wine and cook for about 10 minutes until all the wine has been absorbed. The mixture should hold its shape when stirred. Remove the mushroom duxelle from the pan to cool, and discard the thyme.
  5. Coat the beef lightly with either English mustard or horseradish sauce (but NOT both!!). Using a pastry brush works well for this.
    Overlap two pieces of cling film on a clear work surface. Lay the 12 slices of prosciutto on the cling film, slightly overlapping, in a double row.
    Spread half the mushroom duxelles over the prosciutto, then sit the coated beef on top and spread the remaining duxelles over the meat.
    Use the cling film's edges to draw the prosciutto around the fillet, then roll it into a sausage shape, twisting the ends of the cling film to tighten it as you go. Chill the meat while you roll out the pastry.
    Dust your work surface with a little flour and roll out the puff pastry. Unravel the fillet from the cling film and sit it in the centre of the pastry. Separate the eggs and beat the 2 egg yolks with 1 teaspoon water. Using the egg, generously brush the edges of the pastry.
    Fold the pastry round the meat and trim all the joins to create a neat parcel.
    Glaze generously all over with more egg yolk (use another egg yolk if needed) and, using the back edge of a knife, mark the beef Wellington with long diagonal lines taking care not to cut right through the pastry. Chill for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.
    Brush the Wellington with a little more egg yolk, sprinkle with rock salt and cook at the bottom of a preheated hot oven (Mk 7 - 425ºF - 220ºC). Using a cooking thermometer, the centre of the fillet should read 118ºF-122ºF (48ºC-50ºC) for rare (about 30-40 minutes), 125ºF-133ºF (52ºC-56ºC) for medium rare (about 40-45 minutes), 136ºF-144ºF (58ºC-62ºC) for medium (about 45-50 minutes) and 145ºF-150ºF (63ºC-66ºC) for well done (about 50-65 minutes), though even a joint that is rare in the centre will be medium rare at the edges. Allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving in thick slices - at least 1" (2.5cm) thick.
  6. NOTE: Cooking times above are approximate. Rely on the thermometer, not the clock.
GRAHAM'S HOT TIP:
Since the crust stops you seeing the beef as it cooks, I very strongly recommend that you use a cook's thermometer to get you meat to the perfect stage that you want it. Here's a useful guide for cooking times and temperatures that you can use.

This short video will help...

 
GRAHAM'S WINE RECOMMENDATION:
A medium to full bodied dry red wine like a Pomerol or St. Emilion. (A nice Nuits St Georges does it for me!)