Beef Wellington (Boeuf en Croute)

Serves	6 to 8
Prep time	1 hour
Cook time	1 hour
Total time	2 hours
Allergy	Egg, Wheat
Meal type	Main Dish
Misc	Freezable, Gourmet, Pre-preparable, Serve Cold, Serve Hot
Occasion	Birthday Party, Casual Party, Christmas, Easter, Formal Party, Thanksgiving, Valentines day
Region	British
By author	Karen S Burns-Booth

This stunning recipe makes a real celebratory centre piece for any dinner party or special family gathering. Use only the best beef fillet and if you cannot get hold of prosciutto ham, use streaky bacon or pancetta instead. I like to add a few dried mushrooms to the duxelles mixture sometimes, just drop them in half way through cooking, for a wonderful essence of mushroom flavour. Duxelles can also include shallots, I have left them out in this recipe, as I think the mushrooms work best by themselves with prime beef fillet. (Duxelles is said to have been created by the 17th-century French chef François Pierre La Varenne (1615–1678) and to have been named after his employer, Nicolas Chalon du Blé, marquis d'Uxelles, maréchal de France.)

Ingredients

Beef fillet (preferably Aberdeen Angus) of around 1kg to 1.2kg
2 tbsp olive oil
300g mushrooms (I used a mix of chestnut, morels, ceps and assorted wild mushrooms)
50g butter
1 large sprig fresh thyme
100ml dry vermouth
16 slices prosciutto ham (or Parma, Bayonne ham)
500g/1lb 2oz pack puff pastry , thawed if frozen (or home-made)
Flour , for dusting
1 large free-range egg yolk beaten with 1 tsp water
Freshly ground black pepper

Note

Directions

Step 1	Heat oven to 220C/Gas Mark 7. Place the beef fillet in a roasting tray, brush with 1 tbsp olive oil and season well with freshly ground black pepper, then roast for 15 minutes for medium-rare or 20 minutes for medium. When the beef is cooked to your liking, remove from the oven to cool, then chill in the fridge for about 20 to 30 minutes.
Step 2	While the beef is cooling, chop the mushrooms as finely as possible - I used my Kenwood Titanium Chef for this in the food processor, but be careful, just pulse for a few seconds otherwise they will become purée.
Step 3	Heat the remaining olive oil with the butter in a large frying pan and fry the mushrooms over a medium heat with the fresh thyme for about 10 minutes, stirring them often to make sure they don’t stick, until they are soft. Season the mushrooms with a little salt and black pepper and then pour over the dry white wine and cook for a further 10 minutes, or until all the wine has been absorbed in the mushrooms. Remove the mushroom “duxelles” from the pan to cool and discard the thyme.
Step 4	Place two pieces of cling film on a large chopping board, so they overlap slightly to create a larger size of cling film. Lay the slices of prosciutto (or Parma/Bayonne ham) on the cling film, slightly overlapping, in a double row. Spread half the mushroom duxelles over the prosciutto and then place the fillet on top of the ham and mushrooms, and then spread the remaining duxelles over the beef fillet. Use the cling film's edges to draw the prosciutto around the fillet, before rolling it into a sausage shape, twisting the ends of cling film to tighten it as you go. Chill the fillet while you roll out the pastry.
Step 5	Dust the work surface with a little flour. Roll out a third of the pack of puff pastry to a strip that is as long as the beef fillet with a little overlap and then place it on a non-stick baking sheet. Roll out the remainder of the puff pastry, so that it completely covers the whole of the beef fillet with enough pastry to make a thick crust that can be crimped around the edges.
Step 6	Next, unroll the fillet from the cling film and sit it in the centre of the smaller strip of pastry. Brush the edges of the pastry with some beaten egg, and then the top and sides of the wrapped fillet. Using a rolling pin, carefully lift and drape the larger piece of pastry over the fillet, pressing well into the sides. Trim the joins to a thick crimp, of about 5mm. Seal the edges with the edge of a fork or butter knife. Glaze with more egg yolk all over the pastry, and then lightly score the beef Wellington with long diagonal lines taking care not to cut into the pastry. Using the offcuts of pastry, add leaves for decoration, attach them with egg yolk and don’t forget to glaze them with more beaten egg afterwards. Chill for up to 12 hours, and a minimum of 1 hour.
Step 7	When you are ready to cook the Beef Wellington, pre-heat oven to 200C/Gas Mark 6. Brush the Wellington with a little more egg yolk and cook until golden and crisp; 25 minutes for medium-rare, 30 minutes for medium and 35 to 40 minutes for medium well. Allow to stand for at least 10 minutes before serving in thick slices with seasonal vegetables and potatoes.