Adapted from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cyskqnp1j64 and https://www.gordonramsay.com/gr/recipes/beef-wellington/
Gordon Ramsay’s take on a Beef Wellington. I tried this recipe out and had many faults, so I hope with practice, I can get better! There is also a legendary red wine sauce that although takes a long time, is amazing to eat alongside any beef meal – Toby
Serves: 4 – The first time I served 8 and used a 1.8kg piece of beef – cooking time: really long… But that may have been because I was very new to the recipe. the sauce can take 2 hours or so
this makes 2x beef wellington rolls
Ingredients
Beef Wellington
- 2x 400grams of beef tenderloin/ fillet/ fillet mignon or eye fillet – these are all the same cut but have different names depending on where you are. Essentially the beef needs to be rounded and contain very little fat – any cut from the loin region of the cow
- 700 grams wild mushrooms – cleaned and stems removed
- thyme sprigs
- 500 grams of puff pastry
- 8 slices of prosciutto – approx 200 grams
- 2 egg yolks beaten with 1 tablespoon of water and a pinch of salt
- mustard – half jar
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 200 grams chestnuts
Red wine sauce
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 200 grams of beef trimmings
- 4 large shallot
- 12 black peppercorns
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 thyme sprig
- splash of red wine vinegar
- 1x 750ml bottle red wine
- 750ml beef stock
Directions
Beef Wellington – prep the night before – or if you are doing it in one night, ensure to do the sauce at the same time.
- Wrap each piece of beef tightly in a triple layer of cling film to set its shape – a nice rounded shape – Ideally let it site overnight in this shape
- unwrap the beef roll, lather in salt and pepper and sear on a very hot saucepan with a generous amount of olive oil – Use the side of the pan to speed up the searing process – DO NOT COOK – this process should take 30-60 seconds with the beef cuts being all brown on the outside
- when finished, let is rest and immediately generously apply mustard on all surfaces
- blend all mushroom caps and chestnuts in a food processor, add in the garlic, salt and pepper
- put the mushroom mixture and thyme into a hot pan with no olive oil – this should take 20-30 minutes – the idea is too remove all the water from the mushrooms and evaporate it – remove from heat when a dry paste is formed – IT MUST BE DRY – leave aside to cool in a large bake pan
- meanwhile, roll out both puff pastrys enough to envelop both beef fillets – refrigerate the sheets
- also meanwhile, roll out cling wrap onto a large chopping board – leave cling wrap attached to roll – lay down the prosciutto that is as wide as each beef fillet and will encompass it entirely, allow all edges to overlap
- pepper the layed prosciutto
- place the cooled, dried mushroom paste on the prosciutto using the back of a spoon to evenly spread out the mixture – spread to about 1cm from the edges
- next, fold the initial loose end of the cling film, then carefully wrap the beef fillet ensure the cling film is taught and tightly winds around the fillet – LET THE CLING FILM DO THE WORK – grab the ends and twist very tight to form the beef wellington shape – place in the fridge for 15 minutes to firm up
- once it is set, place the beef on your puff pastry, roll over until the long end ends meet – cut excess pastry off – twist the ends encapsulating the entire roll
- use more cling film to tighten the puff pastry – you can do this the night before! – the tighter the film, the better the shape. The better the shape, the more evenly it cooks – place in fridge for 10 minutes
- lather with egg yolk, carve shapes/ designs in to be fancy and generously salt the rolls
- bake for 35 minutes at 200 degrees C
- once done, rest for 10 minutes
Red Wine Sauce
- Heat oil in a large pan, fry the beef trimmings for a few minutes until golden brown. Stir in shallots, peppercorns, bay leaves, thyme sprigs and continue to cook for 5 minutes – stir frequently until shallots turn golden brown
- pour in the vinegar and let it bubble for a few minutes until almost dry
- add wine and boil until completely reduced – this can take some time even up to an hour
- once reduced, add stock and simmer gently for an hour to further reduce the mixture – remove and scum from the surface of the sauce – stop boiling when you have the desired consistency
- strain all the mixture and use the sauce for the beef wellington – season prior to serving
- use the remaining sauce material in a beef stew the flowing day!
Abby Approved 