Beef Wellington

Beef Wellington consists of a beef fillet (or tenderloin) that is first seared, then cooked in the oven in a puff pastry crust stuffed with a mushroom duxelles and morsels of foie gras.

The recipe is rather long, but fairly straightfoward. Here I show you all the tips to help you make it sucessfully yourself.

29,1094/5 for 20 ratings

Last modified on: December 12^th 2018

Preparation	Resting	Cooking	Start to finish
55 min.	14 min.	48 min.	1 hour 57 min.

Preparation

Resting

Cooking

Start to finish

55 min.

14 min.

48 min.

1 hour 57 min.

Step by step recipe

Stage 1 - 2 min.

Prepare the beef

Ask your butcher for a good chunk of fillet in one piece.

Salt and pepper all over.

Stage 2 - 4 min.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a frying pan on high heat.

When good and hot, brown the beef all over.

Note: this is not to cook it, just colour the outside for about 1 minute on each side.

Stage 3 - 10 min.

Leave the meat on a wire rack to rest and cool.

Stage 4 - 10 min.

Prepare the mushroom duxelles

Prepare 1 shallot and chop finely.

Peel the mushrooms and chop small.

Stage 5 - 8 min.

Pour 4 tablespoons olive oil into a frying pan on medium heat.

When hot, add the chopped shallot, salt and pepper and cook for 1 minute without colouring.

Then add the mushrooms, but do not add any more salt at this stage. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes.

Stage 6 - 1 min.

Remove from the heat, add 1 tablespoon parsley, salt and pepper, then mix well.

Leave to cool and set aside.

Stage 7 - 4 min.

Make the stuffing

Cut 30 g Foie gras into small pieces and put in a bowl.

Stage 8 - 2 min.

Add the mushroom duxelles and mix well.

The stuffing is now ready.

Preheat your oven at 390°F (200°C).

Stage 9 - 5 min.

Assemble the beef Wellington

Roll out 200 g Puff or flaky pastry (pâte feuilletée) (if not ready rolled) and pierce a small hole or two in the centre to let out the steam.

Lay the pastry in a loaf tin, as in the photo, leaving the excess pastry draped over the side. This trick helps to keep everything in shape during assembly.

Stage 10 - 2 min.

Place the beef on a buckwheat pancake...

Stage 11 - 1 min.

...and wrap up firmly.

This is another good tip (fron Thierry Marx): the pancake absorbs the excess meat juices during cooking and this helps to keep the pastry nice and crisp. The pancake blends in with everything else when eaten and your guests might not even notice it.

Stage 12 - 3 min.

Spread a layer of mushroom-foie gras stuffing in the bottom, about the same length as the beef.

Stage 13 - 1 min.

Lay the wrapped beef on the stuffing.

Stage 14 - 3 min.

Spread the rest of the stuffing over the top.

Stage 15 - 3 min.

Lastly, fold over the sides of the pastry to seal everything in.

To lighten the calorific load, you can trim off the excess pastry.

Stage 16 - 1 min.

Glaze top.

Stage 17 - 2 min.

Turn the beef Wellington out of the tin onto a sheet of cooking parchment laid on a baking sheet. Glaze the top side of the pastry.

Stage 18 - 40 min.

Cooking should take around 30 to 40 minutes for 750g of meat, but the best way to be sure is to use an electronic thermometer stuck into the centre of the meat. Stop cooking at 140°F (60°C) for "just done" or 122°F (50°C) for "rare".

Stage 19 - 15 min.

While the meat is cooking, prepare your choice of sauce. This dish is traditionally served with port sauce (blond roux and port left to reduce), but I am not really a fan. I prefer a marchand de vin sauce made with blond roux and Noilly Prat left to reduce, as shown in this photo.

Stage 20

Take the beef Wellington out of the oven and leave to rest for 5 minutes before serving in thick slices...

Stage 21

...with your chosen accompaniment, potato purée in this case.

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	Beef : You can check-out other recipes which use it, like for example: Two-stage beef chuck , Home-made doner kebab, How to slow cook meat, Roast beef "like they do it in Santa Fe", How to cook red meat properly, ... All
	Mushrooms: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Mushroom velouté, Kérinou slices, Chicken and mushroom pie, Breton leek and mushroom tart, Mushroom Pancakes au Gratin, ... All
	Puff or flaky pastry (pâte feuilletée): You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Pissaladière with puff pastry, Mirlitons, Quiche Bretonne, Apple Pie, Yvetot Douillons, ... All
	Foie gras: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Tournedos Rossini, Foie gras Chantilly , Foie gras fingers, Purée of Jerusalem artichokes with foie gras, Sarladaise potatoes, ... All

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