Beef Wellington

Name: Beef Wellington
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 2 h 55 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 1 kg beef fillet, centre cut, trimmed of sinew; 1 tbsp olive oil; 2 tbsp Dijon or English mustard; 600 g chestnut mushrooms, roughly chopped; 2 shallots, roughly chopped; 2 clove garlic; 20 g butter; 3 sprig thyme, leaves only; 8 slice Parma ham or prosciutto; 500 g all-butter puff pastry, chilled; 1 tbsp plain flour, for dusting; 2 egg yolks, beaten with 1 tsp water; salt, black pepper and flaky sea salt

2 h 55
Prep 40 min
Cook 1 h
Serves 6
hard

Start cooking

Seared beef fillet brushed with mustard, wrapped in mushroom duxelles, cured ham and puff pastry, then roasted until crisp outside and pink within.

Method

1
Pat the beef dry, season it all over with salt and pepper, and tie it with string at 3 cm intervals so it holds a neat, even shape.
2
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over high heat and sear the beef on every side, including the ends, until deeply browned.
3
Move the beef to a plate, snip off the string and brush it all over with the mustard while still warm. Leave it to cool.
4
Pulse the mushrooms, shallots and garlic in a food processor until very finely chopped, almost a paste.
5
Melt the butter in the same pan over medium-high heat, add the mushroom mixture and thyme, and cook, stirring, until every drop of liquid has gone and it clumps together.
6
Season this duxelles and spread it on a plate to cool completely.
7
Lay a large sheet of cling film on the worktop and overlap the ham slices on it in a rectangle big enough to wrap the beef.
8
Spread the duxelles thinly over the ham, set the beef along one long edge and use the film to roll everything into a tight log. Twist the ends and chill.
9
Roll the pastry on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 3 mm thick and large enough to enclose the beef.
10
Unwrap the beef and set it on the pastry. Brush the edges with egg yolk, fold the pastry around, trim the excess and press the seams to seal.
11
Turn the parcel seam side down onto a tray lined with baking paper, brush with egg yolk and chill. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 220°C.
12
Brush on a second coat of egg yolk, mark a light criss-cross with the back of a knife and sprinkle with flaky salt.
13
Bake until the pastry is deep golden and a thermometer in the centre of the beef reads 50°C for medium rare.
14
Rest for 10 minutes, then cut into thick slices with a serrated knife.

Notes

Buy a centre-cut piece of fillet with an even thickness from end to end, so it cooks evenly.
The duxelles must be dry and cold before it goes on, or the pastry underneath turns soggy.
For medium, take the beef out at 55°C. The temperature climbs a few degrees more while it rests.

Equipment

Large frying pan, Food processor, Cling film, Rolling pin, Baking tray, Baking paper, Pastry brush, Meat thermometer, Kitchen string

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