Holding a place among the top in the gourmet food charts, Beef Wellington is a true classic recipe that requires a bit of technical skill or simply the courage to try something new and exciting. Essentially, Wellington is a beef fillet wrapped in a layer of puff pastry, which is tightly covered with beef liver pâté, mushrooms, and serrano ham. And then precise baking so that the pastry is cooked and the tender meat remains beautifully pink and does not overcook. Instead of beef fillet, you can also use more tender pieces of sirloin, but definitely do not go for the tougher cuts of beef made for roasting or other more affordable pieces. Beef Wellington requires an investment to prepare, but the result is absolutely worth it!
There are several ways how to prepare Beef Wellington, and none of them is specifically better than the other. I personally love to use the slow-and-low cooked version, as it’s quite a fail-proof option. So as cooking the beef for 1 hour at 100 degrees might sound strange to some at first, give it a chance and you’ll be surprised – the result is great!
The real taste experience lies in the precisely prepared ingredients, each of which has its own value. The meat remains tender and juicy, the mushroom-pâté filling adds depth, and the puff pastry brings in the crisp. There are few meat dishes that could be enjoyed just on their own for their inherent goodness, and the balance of the ingredients in Beef Wellington has exactly that. Serve with my favorite onion sauce, and in my opinion, all other side dishes can even be omitted. 🙂
Beef Wellington
Ingredients
Preparation
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Slightly sizzle and brown the fillet piece on all sides with a little oil on a pan. Then tightly wrap the meat in baking paper (roll it up and fold the edges of the paper under the ends) and transfer it wrapped in the paper to the oven to bake at 100 degrees Celsius for 1 hour. Then remove the meat piece, leave it inside the baking paper, and let it cool.
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Put the mushrooms and fresh thyme in a food processor and blend until very finely chopped. Put oil in a pan, press in the garlic clove, and add the ground coriander. Add the mushroom-thyme mixture and fry for about 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to a bowl to wait.
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Lay the serrano ham slices side by side on a sheet of baking paper, with a slight overlap between the slices. The ham layer should be the width of the meat piece and high enough so that you can wrap the meat piece in the ham. Spread the pâté on top of the ham layer and spread the mushroom filling evenly on top of that. Take the meat out of the baking paper and place it at one edge of the ham filling and wrap it tightly in the ham, tucking the edges under the ends if necessary.
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Then roll out the puff pastry. The pastry should be 5-6 cm longer than the meat piece on both sides and high enough to wrap the meat roll (calculate the circumference of the meat piece + 5-6 cm for height). Now place the serrano-wrapped meat roll at the front edge of the rolled-out puff pastry and roll it up in the pastry. Fold the pastry ends on the sides together and wrap them tightly under the roll. Brush the roll on top with beaten egg yolk and, if desired, use the back of a knife to draw decorative stripes on top (you can also skip this). Bake at 230 degrees Celsius for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
Note
- TIP ! Look for a long, round-shaped fillet piece in the store. If the meat isn't perfectly round, tie it into a round "sausage" shape with kitchen string before browning and putting it in the oven. You can remove the cooking strings before wrapping it in the filling, as it will hold its shape better after pre-baking.
