Beef Wellington Recipe
Beef Wellington Recipe
Beef Wellington has been on my “must-make-one-day” list for AGES. Years… Years and years. And I just avoided it because I had heard it was tricky to get it right and it looked like a lot of work so I just kept saying yeah, maybe one day.
Then I watched Gordon Ramsay make it on TV and realised (at least his version) that it’s not that difficult and it is a dish that has such an incredible wow factor when you slice into it that I knew I had to try it.
So let me break this down for you – there are 9 easy steps, 4 of which are the sauce. You cannot buy a piece of eye fillet and cook it to perfection and not have a to-die-for sauce to go with it.
Now most (probably all) Beef Wellington recipes include mushrooms but my husband is a mushroom-phobe so I substituted shitake mushrooms for the standard brown mushrooms because they are quite nutty in flavour and he didn’t even notice they were in there! If you hate them too, just leave them out altogether.
The one thing you do need is a probe thermometer because there is just no way of knowing how that beef is cooked on the inside without one. And it’s really important to keep an eye on it and know how much your beef weighs before you begin because it continues to cook once you remove it from the oven. That pastry is a fantastic insulator so you have to, HAVE to take it out of the oven when the temperature reads 10 degrees cooler that what you would normally cook a piece of beef for. We like our beef medium rare so I took the beef out of the oven when the thermometer read 48C and waited until it reached 60C before I carved it and it was perfect.
This quantity is perfect for two people so if you have a night of romance up your sleeve or want to cook something special for someone special this IS it. Do not skimp on the sauce ingredients. A 750ml bottle of wine gets reduced until nearly evaporated and then 750ml of stock is also heavily reduced leaving you with about a cup full of sauce (more than enough but you want more, not less).
Remember to start your red wine sauce while your beef is resting in the fridge as it takes nearly an hour to complete (most of this is just reducing the liquids).
Adapted from Gordon Ramsay’s recipe
1 x 500g beef fillet
olive oil, for frying
250g mushrooms, cleaned
1 thyme sprig, leaves only
2 sheets of puff pastry
6 slices of prosciutto
1 egg yolk, beaten
sea salt and cracked black pepper
Red Wine Sauce
2 tbsp. olive oil
200g beef timmings (bone scraps with bits of meat still on them)
4 shallots, peeled and sliced
12 black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1 thyme sprig
Splash of red wine vinegar
1 x 750ml bottle red wine
750 ml beef stock
2 tbsp. butter
sea salt and cracked black pepper
Heat the olive oil in a hot pan and sear the beef on all sides until browned for about 30-60 seconds. Remove from the pan and leave to cool in the fridge.
Finely chop the mushrooms and fry in the pan with a little more olive oil, the thyme leaves and some salt and pepper. Fry until there is no moisture left in the mushrooms and remove from the pan and leave to cool.
Lay a large sheet of cling film on a work surface and place the prosciutto on the cling film to form a square large enough to encase the beef. Spread the mushrooms over the prosciutto.
Lay the beef on the centre and use the cling film to help you roll it up into a neat parcel. Tie the ends and place in the fridge for half an hour to rest.
Now skip ahead to your red wine sauce at this point before moving on to below:
Pre-heat oven to 200C/180C fan-forced/400F.
Lay the pastry sheets together on the work surface and press the edges together to form a good seal. Brush the entire surface with the egg. Place the beef onto the pastry and enclose tightly, sealing the ends. Brush all over with more egg and return to fridge, loosely covered with cling film for another 20 minutes.
At this point, insert your probe thermometer and put the beef onto a tray. Brush one more time with the egg and cook for 20-25 minutes or until the thermometer reads 48C for medium-rare or 29C for rare. Remove from the oven and rest for 10 minutes. Keep an eye on the thermometer and when it reaches 60C for medium-rare, slice into thick pieces and serve with the sauce.
Red Wine Sauce: Heat some oil in a large fry pan and brown the beef trimmings. Stir in the shallots with the peppercorns, bay and thyme and continue to cook stirring, until the shallots turn golden brown.
Pour in the vinegar and let it bubble until almost dry (about 15 seconds). Add the wine and boil until almost completely reduced. Add the stock and bring to the boil again. Lower the heat and simmer gently for around 1 hour until desired consistency (you aren’t looking for a thick sauce but it needs to be able to coat the back of a spoon). Add 2 tbsp. of butter and whisk. Strain and set aside. Re-heat if necessary when you’re ready to serve and season with salt and pepper.
Ingredients
- 1 x 500g beef fillet
- olive oil, for frying
- 250g mushrooms, cleaned
- 1 thyme sprig, leaves only
- 2 sheets of puff pastry
- 6 slices of prosciutto
- 1 egg yolk, beaten
- sea salt and cracked black pepper
- Red Wine Sauce
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 200g beef timmings (bone scraps with bits of meat still on them)
- 4 shallots, peeled and sliced
- 12 black peppercorns
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 thyme sprig
- Splash of red wine vinegar
- 1 x 750ml bottle red wine
- 750 ml beef stock
- 2 tbsp. butter
- sea salt and cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a hot pan and sear the beef on all sides until browned for about 30-60 seconds. Remove from the pan and leave to cool in the fridge.
- Finely chop the mushrooms and fry in the pan with a little more olive oil, the thyme leaves and some salt and pepper. Fry until there is no moisture left in the mushrooms and remove from the pan and leave to cool.
- Lay a large sheet of cling film on a work surface and place the prosciutto on the cling film to form a square large enough to encase the beef. Spread the mushrooms over the prosciutto.
- Lay the beef on the centre and use the cling film to help you roll it up into a neat parcel. Tie the ends and place in the fridge for half an hour to rest.
- Now skip ahead to your red wine sauce at this point before moving on to below:
- Pre-heat oven to 200C/180C fan-forced/400F.
- Lay the pastry sheets together on the work surface and press the edges together to form a good seal. Brush the entire surface with the egg. Place the beef onto the pastry and enclose tightly, sealing the ends. Brush all over with more egg and return to fridge, loosely covered with cling film for another 20 minutes.
- At this point, insert your probe thermometer and put the beef onto a tray. Brush one more time with the egg and cook for 20-25 minutes or until the thermometer reads 48C for medium-rare or 29C for rare. Remove from the oven and rest for 10 minutes. Keep an eye on the thermometer and when it reaches 60C for medium-rare, slice into thick pieces and serve with the sauce.
- Red Wine Sauce: Heat some oil in a large fry pan and brown the beef trimmings. Stir in the shallots with the peppercorns, bay and thyme and continue to cook stirring, until the shallots turn golden brown.
- Pour in the vinegar and let it bubble until almost dry (about 15 seconds). Add the wine and boil until almost completely reduced. Add the stock and bring to the boil again. Lower the heat and simmer gently for around 1 hour until desired consistency (you aren’t looking for a thick sauce but it needs to be able to coat the back of a spoon). Add 2 tbsp. of butter and whisk. Strain and set aside. Re-heat if necessary when you’re ready to serve and season with salt and pepper.
Carolyn Murphy
Carolyn Murphy is a married mother of three and regularly provides us with recipes and strange but true stories about her life. When she’s not here, she can also be found on her website pinkpostitnote.com where all her other recipes are located!
