Beef Wellington

15 mins Prep Time

4 hours 0 mins Cook Time

Written By

Nadia Boachie

Beef Wellington is a classic old English dish that has been made more popular by celebrity chefs like Gordon Ramsay. It is made from seared beef tenderloin, coated in Dijon to tenderize the meat, coated in duxelles -- a mushroom pate -- wrapped in ham and finally covered in delicious puff pastry. It is a dish that is sure to impress anyone. It is absolutely delicious, hearty and aesthetically pleasing. You can get creative with the decoration and scoring on your puff pastry.

Ingredients

Beef Wellington

1 1/2 pounds centre-cut beef tenderloin, trimmed
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil, for greasing
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 pound (approximately 450 grams) mixed mushrooms, roughly chopped
1 shallot, roughly chopped
Leaves from 1 thyme sprig
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
10-12 thin slices prosciutto
Flour, for dusting
400 grams (2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 large egg, beaten
Maldon salt, for sprinkling

Directions

Beef Wellington

11 Steps

Step 1

Using kitchen twine, tie tenderloin in 3-4 places. Season generously with salt and pepper.
Step 2

Coat bottom of a heavy skillet with olive oil . Once pan is nearly smoking, sear tenderloin until well-browned on all sides, including the ends, about 1-2 minutes per side (6 sides).
Step 3

Transfer to a plate. When cool enough to handle, snip off twine and coat all sides with mustard. Let cool in fridge.
Step 4

Meanwhile, make duxelles: In a food processor, pulse mushrooms, shallots and thyme until finely chopped.
Step 5

To skillet, add butter and melt over medium heat. Add mushroom mixture and cook until liquid has evaporated, about 25 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then let cool.
Step 6

Place plastic wrap down on a work surface, overlapping so that it’s twice the length and width of the tenderloin. Lay prosciutto flat on the plastic wrap into a rectangle that’s big enough to cover the whole tenderloin. Spread the duxelles evenly and thinly over the prosciutto.
Step 7

Place the tenderloin at the bottom of the prosciutto. Roll meat into prosciutto-mushroom mixture, using plastic wrap to roll tightly. Tuck ends of prosciutto as you roll, then twist ends of plastic wrap tightly into a log and transfer to fridge to chill. You can leave this in the fridge overnight and bake the next day.
Step 8

Heat your oven to 425°F when ready to bake. Lightly flour your work surface, then spread out puff pastry. Roll out the pastry so it is just slightly bigger than the tenderloin. Remove tenderloin from plastic wrap and place on bottom of puff pastry. Brush the other three edges of the pastry with egg wash, then tightly roll beef into pastry.
Step 9

Once the log is fully covered in puff pastry, trim any extra pastry, then crimp edges with a fork to seal well. Wrap roll in plastic wrap to get a really tight cylinder, then chill for 20 minutes.
Step 10

Remove plastic wrap, then transfer roll to a foil-lined baking sheet. Brush with egg wash. You can add some puff pastry designs if you have a second sheet of puff pastry. I like to add on leaf designs. Brush any added designs with egg wash and sprinkle with Maldon salt.
Step 11

Bake until pastry is golden and the center registers 120°F for medium-rare, about 40 to 45 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before carving and serving. Be extra careful when cutting to holds its shape and ensure that the puff pastry does not slide off.