One of our favorite holiday meals is Beef Wellington. It gives you a great beef roast in a faster amount of time than a rib roast. Plus, it adds a nice little surprise for your holiday guests. To be honest, who doesn’t love the look of a perfectly cooked beef wellington just sitting on the table?! If you want to impress your guests this holiday season, this recipe is for you! Plus, it is super tasty.
Beef Wellington
Beef Wellington starts with a beef tenderloin coated in a Duxelles and then wrapped with prosciutto, forming what looks like a meat torpedo. Then, the entire beef tenderloin is wrapped in a delicate puff pastry. To start, you make the mushroom Duxelles.
To create a Duxelles, you need to combine 1 1/2 pounds of white mushrooms, 2 shallots, 4-5 cloves of garlic and 2 sprigs worth of thyme leaves in a food processor.
Pulse until the mushroom mixture is finely chopped.
In a large saute pan, heat up 2 tbs butter and 2 tbs of olive oil over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, add the mushroom mixture.
Continue to cook until the liquid in the mushroom mixture is gone. Once the mushroom mixture liquid has fully evaporated, season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Trim the tenderloin and remove any fat and tendons. Then season with salt and pepper.
Preheat a large saute pan over high heat. Add olive oil and then add the tenderloin. Brown the tenderloin on all sides. Remove and set aside.
Stretch out a piece of plastic wrap. Then, overlap the prosciutto to form a solid sheet.
Coat the prosciutto sheet evenly with the Duxelles.
Place the browned tenderloin onto the center of the prosciutto sheet.
Coat the tenderloin in a thin layer of spicy or dijon mustard. Then, wrap the tenderloin tightly with the prosciutto sheet. Twist the ends of the plastic wrap on either side of the tenderloin with the goal of making your tenderloin nice and round. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to solidfy the shape of the meat.
While the meat chills, remove the puff pastry from the freezer and allow it to thaw at room temperature on a lightly floured surface. Once the puff pastry is thawed, roll it out into a sheet big enough to wrap around your meat. I combined two pieces of puff pastry to fully encase my tenderloin. Unwrap the tenderloin from the plastic wrap and then roll in the puff pastry.
Once you have the tenderloin wrapped, seal the seam and ends by brushing them with egg wash and pressing the puff pastry ends together. To make egg wash, just crack an egg into a dish and mix the white and yolk together.
Preheat your oven to 425 degree Fahrenheit.
Place the beef wellington onto an un-greased cookie sheet seam side down. Then, brush the top with egg wash. If you have a little extra puff pastry, you can create some decorations for your beef wellington. I used some excess pastry to make leaves. You can make whatever you want to spruce up your wellington. I have also been known to make Christmas trees and presents. It is only limited by your imagination. Once you have the decoration on the top, coat the entire surface with the egg wash. Then, sprinkle with a coarse kosher or sea salt. Create two or three vent holes on the top. I totally forgot to add vent holes and my puff pastry split a bit. So I want to emphasize this, make sure to create vent holes.
Insert the needle of your probe thermometer into the end of the tenderloin. Make sure to insert the probe thermometer into the center of the of the tenderloin. If you are looking for a nice reliable thermometer, I recommend the Thermoworks Chef Alarm.
Place the beef wellington into the preheated 425 degree oven and bake until the wellington registers 125 for rare, 135 for medium rare or 140 for medium. This will take roughly 40-50 minutes. Remove and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes before cutting. I cooked mine to 138. This was to give me a medium center. That way my edges would be more well done and the center would be perfect. This allows you to cook for the entire family.
As you can see, the ends are a perfectly well done.
Slice the Wellington into 1 inch to 2 inch slices.
This was one of the best meals that I have ever served! It was delicious! This will be a surefit hit for your holiday dinner table.
- 3-4 pound center cut beef tenderloin
- 2 tbs olive oil
- Duxelle - see recipe below
- 10-12 slices extra thin prosciutto
- 2 tbs spicy brown or dijon mustard
- 2 tbs flour - for dusting the puff pastry
- 1 box puff pastry - 2 pieces
- 1 egg beaten for egg wash
- 1 1/2 pound of white mushrooms
- 2 medium shallots
- 4-5 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 2 tbs butter
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
-
Beef Wellington starts with a beef tenderloin coated in a Duxelles and then wrapped with prosciutto, forming what looks like a meat torpedo. Then, the entire beef tenderloin is wrapped in a delicate puff pastry. To start, you make the mushroom Duxelles.
-
To create a Duxelles, you need to combine 1 1/2 pounds of white mushrooms, 2 shallots, 4-5 cloves of garlic and 2 sprigs worth of thyme leaves in a food processor.
-
Pulse until the mushroom mixture is finely chopped.
-
In a large saute pan, heat up 2 tbs butter and 2 tbs of olive oil over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, add the mushroom mixture.
-
Continue to cook until the liquid in the mushroom mixture is gone. Once the mushroom mixture liquid has fully evaporated, season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
-
Trim the tenderloin and remove any fat and tendons. Then season with salt and pepper.
-
Preheat a large saute pan over high heat. Add olive oil and then add the tenderloin. Brown the tenderloin on all sides. Remove and set aside.
-
Stretch out a piece of plastic wrap. Then, overlap the prosciutto to form a solid sheet.
-
Coat the prosciutto sheet evenly with the Duxelles.
-
Place the browned tenderloin onto the center of the prosciutto sheet.
-
Coat the tenderloin in a thin layer of spicy or dijon mustard. Then, wrap the tenderloin tightly with the prosciutto sheet. Twist the ends of the plastic wrap on either side of the tenderloin with the goal of making your tenderloin nice and round. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to solidfy the shape of the meat.
-
While the meat chills, remove the puff pastry from the freezer and allow it to thaw at room temperature on a lightly floured surface. Once the puff pastry is thawed, roll it out into a sheet big enough to wrap around your meat. I combined two pieces of puff pastry to fully encase my tenderloin. Unwrap the tenderloin from the plastic wrap and then roll in the puff pastry.
-
Once you have the tenderloin wrapped, seal the seam and ends by brushing them with egg wash and pressing the puff pastry ends together. To make egg wash, just crack an egg into a dish and mix the white and yolk together.
-
Preheat your oven to 425 degree Fahrenheit.
-
Place the beef wellington onto an un-greased cookie sheet seam side down. Then, brush the top with egg wash. If you have a little extra puff pastry, you can create some decorations for your beef wellington. I used some excess pastry to make leaves. You can make whatever you want to spruce up your wellington. I have also been known to make Christmas trees and presents. It is only limited by your imagination. Once you have the decoration on the top, coat the entire surface with the egg wash. Then, sprinkle with a coarse kosher or sea salt. Create two or three vent holes on the top. I totally forgot to add vent holes and my puff pastry split a bit. So I want to emphasize this, make sure to create vent holes.
-
Insert the needle of your probe thermometer into the end of the tenderloin. Make sure to insert the probe thermometer into the center of the of the tenderloin. If you are looking for a nice reliable thermometer, I recommend the Thermoworks Chef Alarm.
-
Place the beef wellington into the preheated 425 degree oven and bake until the wellington registers 125 for rare, 135 for medium rare or 140 for medium. This will take roughly 40-50 minutes. Remove and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes before cutting. I cooked mine to 138. This was to give me a medium center. That way my edges would be more well done and the center would be perfect. This allows you to cook for the entire family.
-
As you can see, the ends are a perfectly well done.
-
Slice the Wellington into 1 inch to 2 inch slices.
-
This was one of the best meals that I have ever served! It was delicious! This will be a surefit hit for your holiday dinner table.
Adapted From - http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/the-ultimate-beef-wellington-recipe2.html
Adapted from http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/the-ultimate-beef-wellington-recipe2.html
Look at you with the pretty leaf work on top. Top notch, my friend!
Why thank you Chris! It was pretty until I forgot to poke a couple vent holes. Then it split right around my beautiful leaves 🙁
Looks and sounds delish–thank you! Suggest adding a statement in directions about removing plastic wrap before wrapping with puff pastry.