Beef Wellington

Beef Wellington: Indulgent dish for special occasions. Photo credit: Msi Muzi Mathebula.

Beef Wellington – Juicy, decadent fillet enveloped in pastry

Planning a feast? With this Beef Wellington recipe you cannot go wrong. It is simply mouth-watering.

Beef Wellington

Beef Wellington: Indulgent dish for special occasions. Photo credit: Msi Muzi Mathebula.

Are you having a special occasion? Prepare this indulgent Beef Wellington recipe. It is an extraordinary meal of English origin that is perfect for any celebratory moment. This decadent recipe basically consists of succulent beef fillet, tasty duxelles and prosciutto all enveloped in fluffy puff pastry. Each bite is pure heaven.

Preparing Beef Wellington is a bit of a labour of love as it does take some time to put together. But it is all worth it! Cooking time is about two hours so you need to ensure that you have enough time to prepare this meal.

If you have a special celebration coming up or you just want to spoil your loved ones, this Beef Wellington recipe will do the trick. Serve with crunchy veggies for a balanced meal loaded with flavour and texture.

Let us know in the comments section if you love this recipe as much as we do. You can also send images of your prepared dish to us.

Beef Wellington recipe

5 from 1 vote
Recipe by Msi Muzi Mathebula Course: MainCuisine: GlobalDifficulty: Easy
Servings

6

servings
Prep time

30

minutes
Cooking time

2

hours 
Total time

2

hours 

30

minutes

Ingredients

  • 6 6 beef fillets

  • 3 tablespoons 3 olive oil

  • 250 g 250 wild mushrooms

  • 50 g 50 butter

  • 1 sprig 1 sprig of fresh thyme

  • 100 ml 100 dry white wine

  • 12 slices 12 prosciutto

  • 500 g 500 puff pastry

  • flour for dusting

  • 2 2 egg yolks, beaten

  • 2 tablespoons 2 butter

  • 2 tablespoons 2 flour

  • 1 cup 1 milk

  • 2 cups 2 sharp cheddar cheese freshly grated

Method

  • Heat the oven to 220°C.
  • On a roasting tray, brush the beef fillet with 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with pepper, then roast for 15 minutes for medium-rare or 20 minutes for medium. When the beef is cooked to your liking, remove it from the oven to cool, then chill in the fridge for about 20 minutes.
  • While the beef is cooling, chop 250 g wild mushrooms as finely as possible so they have the texture of coarse breadcrumbs. You can use a food processor to do this, but make sure you pulse-chop the mushrooms so they don’t become a slurry.
  • Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and 50 g butter in a large pan and fry the mushrooms on medium heat, with 1 large sprig of fresh thyme, for about 10 minutes stirring often, until you have a softened mixture.
  • Season the mushroom mixture, pour over 100 ml dry white wine and cook for about 10 minutes until all the wine has been absorbed. The mixture should hold its shape when stirred.
  • Remove the mushroom duxelle from the pan to cool and discard the thyme.
  • Overlap two pieces of cling film over a large chopping board. Lay 12 slices of prosciutto on the cling film, slightly overlapping, in a double row.
  • Spread half the duxelles over the prosciutto, then sit the fillet on it and spread the remaining duxelles over.
    Use the cling film’s edges to draw the prosciutto around the fillet, then roll it into a sausage shape, twisting the ends of the cling film to tighten it as you go.
  • Chill the fillet while you roll out the pastry.
  • Dust your work surface with a little flour. Roll out a third of the 500 g pack of puff pastry to an 18 x 30 cm strip and place on a non-stick baking sheet.
  • Roll out the remainder of the 500 g pack of puff pastry to about 28 x 36 cm.
  • Unravel the fillet from the cling film and sit it in the centre of the smaller strip of pastry.
  • Beat the 2 egg yolks and brush the pastry’s edges, and the top and sides of the wrapped fillet.
  • Using a rolling pin, carefully lift and drape the larger piece of pastry over the fillet, pressing well into the sides.
  • Trim the joins to about a 4 cm rim. Seal the rim with the edge of a fork or spoon handle.
  • Glaze all over with more egg yolk and, using the back of a knife, mark the beef Wellington with long diagonal lines taking care not to cut into the pastry.
  • Chill for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hrs. Heat oven to 200°C.
  • Brush the Wellington with a little more egg yolk and cook until golden and crisp – 20 – 25 minutes for medium-rare beef, 30 minutes for medium. Allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving in thick slices.
  • In a medium size sauce pan over medium high heat, add the butter and melt.
  • Whisk in the flour and slowly whisk in the milk.
  • Add in the cheese and mix until cheese is melted and serve with the beef Wellington.

Notes

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