Nothing says ‘special occasion’ quite like a traditional Beef Wellington. It’s pure pleasure on a plate.
Here award-winning Chewton Glen executive chef Luke Matthews shows us how to make the perfect Beef Wellington. Using mouthwatering reared and butchered Donald Russell fillet steak, Luke’s restaurant recipe wraps this classic luxurious cut in truffle mushroom duxelles, with Parma ham and light pastry, finishing it with a lattice.
This easy-to-follow recipe for Beef Wellington is a showstopping feast or a truly special Sunday lunch idea.
Serves 2
Ingredients
2 x Donald Russell Centre Cut Fillet Steaks
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1tbs vegetable oil
30g butter
1 banana shallot, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, one finely grated and one chopped
2 ½ large flat mushrooms, peeled & put through a food processor
4 sprigs of thyme (2 for sealing the steak)
50ml Madeira wine
1 splash white truffle oil to taste
6 slices of Parma ham
1 large sheet rolled puff pastry
1tsp Dijon mustard
Beaten egg for egg wash
Method
Preheat the oven to 195°C.
Heat the oil in a frying pan.
Season the beef and brown the fillet on all sides quickly with two sprigs of thyme, chopped garlic and a knob of butter.
Remove the fillet, thyme and garlic from the pan and reserve on a plate in the fridge. Using the same pan add the shallots and sauté in the butter till soft, add the mushrooms with the remaining thyme, then add the Madeira and reduce until evaporated and the mushrooms are well cooked and dry.
Add the grated garlic and cook for a further minute. Add the truffle oil, season with salt and pepper and reserve in the fridge.
Once the steak and mushroom mixture has cooled, dry the steak of any resting juices. Brush the steak all over with the mustard. Lay out two sheets of clingfilm on top of each other on a table and lay the Parma ham over this. Spread the mushroom mixture evenly over the top of the beef, then place the steak in the centre of the ham. Wrap the ham around the whole steak, then wrap with the cling film to form a nice shape and return to the fridge to set.
Cut out three sheets of puff pastry, remove the clingfilm from the beef and place the beef into the centre of the pastry. Brush egg wash around. Place the other sheet on top, press down lightly and egg wash. Use a lattice cutter to score the remaining sheet of pastry, spread apart and lay over the Wellington. Using a reversed pastry cutter, press down to seal the all the pastry together. Place in the fridge and allow to set, remove and reshape the beef making sure there is not any gathering of the pastry and cut out.
Glaze the pastry with the egg wash and bake at 195°C for 22 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown. The steak will now have cooked up to medium rare. Leave to rest for two minutes before carving in half with a serrated knife to serve.
Serve with red wine sauce.
