Beef Wellington gets a reputation for being complicated, but using ready-made puff pastry makes it much more manageable. The key is getting everything prepared before you start assembling, because once you begin wrapping the beef, you want to work fairly quickly.
The mushroom mixture is what holds everything together. You use both dried porcini and fresh oyster mushrooms, which gives you different textures and flavours. The porcini need twenty minutes soaking in hot water first, then everything gets chopped together in a food processor. When you cook it down with onion, garlic and thyme, it becomes a thick paste that won’t make the pastry soggy.
The beef gets seared quickly in a hot pan, just a minute on each side to seal it. This stops the juices running out when it’s cooking in the pastry. Once it’s cooled down in the fridge, it’s ready to wrap.
Assembly is straightforward enough. You roll the pastry into a rectangle, lay down the Parma ham slices so they overlap slightly, spread the mushroom mixture over that, then place the beef on top. The ham acts as a barrier between the mushroom mixture and the beef, and adds a nice salty flavour that works well with both.
Wrapping it takes a bit of care. You pull the pastry corners up and over, making sure there are no air pockets trapped inside. A brush of beaten egg helps it seal properly and gives it a good colour when it bakes.
The whole thing goes in a hot oven for fifteen to twenty minutes, which should give you pastry that’s golden and cooked through while keeping the beef pink in the middle. Letting it rest for ten minutes after baking makes it much easier to slice cleanly.
Beef Wellington with Parma Ham
Ingredients
- 500g Puff Pastry (ready-made)
- 20g Dried Porcini Mushrooms
- 2 Cloves Garlic
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- 2 Beef Fillet Steaks
- 8 Slices Parma Ham
- 1 Red Onion
- Knob of Butter
- 500g Oyster Mushrooms (finely chopped)
- Splash of Marsala
- Large Handful of Fresh Thyme (chopped)
- 1 Egg (lightly beaten)
- 300ml Double Cream
- 1 tbsp Wholegrain Mustard
Directions
- Start by washing the dried mushrooms in cold water, then put them into a bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave to soak for 20 minutes.
- Preheat a tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan on a high heat. Season the beef well with salt and black pepper, then fry for one minute on each side to seal. Remove from the pan and put into the fridge to cool.
- Peel the onion and garlic, chop the fresh mushrooms in half, drain the dried mushrooms and put them all together into a food processor and give them a quick blast.
- Heat a tablespoon of oil and butter in a frying pan and add the onion and mushroom mixture. Season with salt and ground black pepper and cook for 5-10 minutes or until soft. Add in the chopped thyme and marsala and give everything a good stir. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.
- Take the pastry out of the fridge. Cut in half and place on a lightly floured surface and roll out into a large rectangle shape, large enough to envelop the two beef fillets.
- Place four Parma ham slices in the middle, overlapping them slightly, to create a square. Spread one tablespoon of mushroom mixture evenly over the ham and place the beef fillet on top. Brush the edges of the pastry with the beaten egg.
- Pull up the corners and edges of the pastry so they meet and overlap slightly in the middle. Then turn the parcel right-side up and shape it around the sides a little with your hands. If the pastry feels soft, chill it in the fridge for 10-15 minutes to firm it up. In the meantime, preheat your oven to 200°C (180°C Fan).
- When you are ready to cook the Beef Wellingtons, score the pastry lightly, brush with the egg wash then bake for 15-20 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and cooked. Rest for 10 minutes before carving.
