Beef Wellington

by Barry Lewis

Prep time
15 mins
Cook time
40 mins

Ingredients

450g chestnut mushrooms, blended
700g beef fillet
2 tbsp English mustard
8 slices of Parma ham
500g puff pastry
1 egg, beaten
(try some caramelised onions for filling if you hate mushrooms just a little suggestion for an alternative, wish I did that now, yum!)

Beef Wellington, sort of my nemesis since doing my virgin kitchen, i’ve had requests to make one before but never really felt confident in doing it, which may seem weird to you guys but something about it kept putting me off! So inspired by a recipe from Gordon Ramsay I gave this easy beef wellington recipe a whirl!

First thing you need to do is sear the beef fillet, so brown it in a pan on all sides in a pan over a low flame, you can use oil if you wish but I did not. You don’t need to cook the fillet, just brown the edges. Leave to rest on a board.

Whizz up some mushrooms and push into the same pan the fillet was in, over a medium flame simmer off all the water from them, it should take about ten minutes, you’ll be surprised how much water is in them! Remove from the heat and set aside.

Coat the beef fillet in the mustard, you could use wholegrain mustard if you prefer. Lay down a strip of cling film then overlap the parma ham on top of it to create a small carpet layer of the ham, spread the mushrooms all over the top. Sit the beef fillet on top of the mushroom and then roll up using the cling film to tightly wrap the ham and mushroom around the beef. Tighten the cling film as best you can at both ends and stick in the fridge for 30mins to help hold it’s shape.

Meanwhile roll out some puff pastry. Once the 30mins is up sit the fillet in the middle of the pastry and egg wash all around it. Bring the pastry up to join with a seam at the top and then flip over so it sits on the seam cutting away any excess pastry you should be left with a nice parcel.

Coat well in egg wash and score with a knife then sprinkle in salt. Bake for 20mins at 200c then lower to 180c for a further 15mins then leave to rest.

Slice in thick wedges. This is the first time I had tried beef wellington let alone make it and I loved it, hope you try this recipe for yourself cooking is just about confidence.