Beef Wellington is an English dish where filet steak is coated with duxelles (a ground up mushroom paste), and is then wrapped in puff pastry and baked. An elegant meal perfect for any special occasion, this dish is surprisingly easy to prepare. This particular recipe is largely based on Gordon Ramsay's version, with just a few minor tweaks. To see how it's done just follow below!
This dish is a little expensive, as you need a really good cut of meat to work with. Beef tenderloin at my local grocery store runs $16.99/lb, and I got 2.95 lbs. You will have to cut and trim your steak to get it ready for the dish. Make sure to remove the side muscle, silver skin, and any fat that you can. I used kitchen shears and a knife to do mine.
For the duxelles you mainly just use mushrooms, one clove of garlic, and some salt and pepper.
Blend in a food processor till a thick paste forms.
Cook the mushroom mixture in a clean, hot skillet until all of the water is released from the mushrooms and cooks away.
Put the duxelles on a plate and let it cool.
At this time I also put my puff pastry out to thaw. (I just followed the directions on the box which said to thaw 40 minutes prior to using).
Heat a cast iron skillet with some olive oil over high heat. You want it super hot as we are going to sear our steak before baking it.
Salt and pepper the beef generously on all sides.
Sear the steak on all sides, even the ends. Remember, you're just searing it, not cooking it.
As soon as you remove the tenderloin from the skillet brush it with a spicy mustard. In the Gordon Ramsay recipe it calls for English mustard. (English mustard is a really spicy mustard). Of course my local grocery store didn't have any, so I just used a spicy brown mustard.
Then, just let the tenderloin sit to cool and absorb the flavors in the mustard.
While the beef cools you can begin layering everything to build the Beef Wellington. Unroll some plastic wrap over the surface you'll be working on (leaving it still attached to the roll). The recipe I followed called for Parma ham, which is a super thinly sliced ham similar to prosciutto. Well, again my grocery store didn't have this either, so I just used prosciutto. Lay out a layer of prosciutto, overlapping the edges, 4 pieces wide. Since the meat is salty you do NOT need to salt it. Just sprinkle with some pepper. Gently spread the duxelles, or mushroom mixture, on top of the peppered prosciutto. (Use the back of a spoon to smooth it out. Leave 1/2" border free of the mixture on all sides on the prosciutto).
Top with the steak and roll as tightly as you can with the plastic wrap.
Keep rolling and tucking, the tighter you make it the better. Cut the plastic wrap when you are finished rolling.
Twist the ends and place in the fridge for 15 minutes to firm up.
Once it has set it is ready to be wrapped in the puff pastry. Pull out more plastic wrap to cover your working surface, sprinkle with a little flour, and lay the sheet of puff pastry down. Top with the beef.
Use the plastic wrap again to roll everything together. Pinch the ends to seal the pastry around the beef.
Wrap as tightly as you can, cut the plastic wrap from the box and twist the ends, and place it back in the fridge to firm up again. This can be done ahead of time, you can even do this the day before.
Brush with egg yolk.
Using the back of the knife make one long partial-cut down the center, then smaller cuts on the sides for decoration. This is totally optional. To finish, sprinkle with salt and bake at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes (for medium rare).
Fresh out of the oven your Beef Wellington will look something like this. Nice browned crispy pastry. So pretty!
Fresh mashed potatoes are perfect to pair with this feast.
Your masterpiece is finished! If you have any questions just let me know! I highly recommend checking out Gordon Ramsay's recipe as well. Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed Sunday!
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