Beef Wellington when perfectly executed highly impresses me. For years I was intimidated to make one. My goal is to show you how to make Beef Wellington so it much less intimidating. Beef Wellington is a luxurious dish where puff pastry is wrapped around beef tenderloin then sliced into portions to serve. But it is more than that. There are different layers of flavor within the Wellington that make it truly spectacular. Make no mistake though, it’s a fabulous to dish to make year round.
I have seen a number of different beef Wellington recipes throughout my years. You start doing all the steps and assume that if you follow the directions, that you should be left with a perfect result. I’m here to tell you that this often isn’t the case sadly. I wanted to call this article “The Realist’s Guide to Beef Wellington” but I came to my senses. It is a labor of love making Beef Wellington but it is absolutely worth it. Give yourself plenty of time and don’t try to rush things. Take the time to learn the helpful tips in this guide and it will make all the difference. I have received so much joy from people who have used this guide and had great success.
My biggest problem in the past has been overcooking it or having portions of the pastry get soggy. I’ll explain why that happened and how you can prevent it. There are a few helpful tips and tricks I’ve learned along my culinary journey that I feel are worth sharing.
If using striploins, cut each steak in half to make individual portions. Pat dry, and season both sides of the steaks with salt and pepper and spread with a thin layer of dijon mustard. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Remove the puff pastry from the fridge and roll out each sheet just a little to make it smooth.
A Few Words About Puff Pastry
Before I scare those of you unfamiliar with puff pastry, you can find it in the freezer section of most grocery stores. For those who aren’t familiar, puff pastry although made from only a few ingredients is fairly labor intensive to make.
Note: Do not confuse puff pastry with phyllo dough when you purchase it. You want puff pastry sheets.
Puff pastry is made from hundreds of layers of extremely thin dough with as many thin layers of butter in between. The butter has to be cold out pliable during this process. Imagine beating a bunch of butter until its very thin, then making a layer on top of a basic dough. Then fold that layer over and over. Next you flatten and roll that piece of dough. Repeat this process by folding the dough, rolling the dough while chilling the dough.
Sounds like fun doesn’t it? Maybe if you have an industrial machine to facilitate the process. Count me out. Learning how to make Beef Wellington is already quite labor intensive. Maybe someday I’ll be inspired to make my own puff pastry again but I don’t think that is happening anytime soon.
When I was a teen I would make homemade apple turnovers and make my own puff pastry. Back then I used to surprise my Mom with special treats I’d make in the kitchen. Then adulthood happens and we have to prioritize our valuable time.
How To Work With Puff Pastry
This applies more to those who are trying to create the perfect lattice on top of the Beef Wellington. Trust me, I’ve had my fair share of puff pastry issues in the past. Making a lattice just requires a little bit of extra love and attention. If you notice from my pictures of the lattice on my Wellington before it was cooked, I did not try to separate the lattice. By this I mean, slightly pulling it apart prior to covering the base layer with it.
I was intimidated to try to pull my pastry apart as it didn’t cut all the way through. So instead of rolling and cutting another piece, I picked it up and put it on my base layer. I then used my paring knife to lightly cut through the lines on the dough. I really wanted to test how this would work out. How else would I know if it works right? In theory, as long as I cut through that top layer then the pastry should puff and separate. You could imagine how thrilled I was to peek through the oven door and see the pastry looking just gorgeous.
What will I do differently next time? I let my dough get too warm when I went to cut it and I attempted to cut it on my silicone mat. Now, if the dough was cold enough I’m sure it would have been just fine to cut on the mat. I should have picked the mat up and put it in the refrigerator prior to running the lattice cutter over it. In the future I’ll do a few experiments with the puff pastry and report back with my findings.
Duxelles is a french term used for a mixture of finely chopped mushrooms, shallots and herbs sauteed in butter. As the ingredients are sauteed, the majority of the moisture is removed from the mushrooms and you are left with a thick mass of mushrooms. It can be made with the addition of some liquor such as sherry for additional flavor, stock or even a touch of cream.
Duxelles is made with a single or multiple varieties of mushrooms. Using more earthy mushrooms will give a stronger boost of mushroom flavor. White button mushrooms for example have a very mild mushroom flavor compared to cremini (which are baby portobello mushrooms). I personally like to use a mix of white button and cremini mushrooms for my duxelles because I prefer a milder profile. Feel to use any combination of mushroom varieties you prefer.
The most important part of making duxelles is getting the mushrooms cut down to a similar small size prior to cooking. Removing the majority of moisture from the duxelles helps to assure our pastry doesn’t get subjected to additional moisture when cooking. There are many applications for Duxelles in French Cuisine and it is not specific to just Beef Wellington. For starters, it would be excellent folded into an omelet, to stuff ravioli, served on toast points or stuffed in chicken breasts.
Most importantly the duxelles provide an insulating layer to protect the beef tenderloin from the heat required to puff the pastry. Remember, it is a delicate dance to have the beef cooked a perfect medium rare and the outside pastry golden brown. My recipe calls for extra duxelles than some other recipes I’ve seen in the past because that layer is critical to getting a great result in the end.
The two biggest challenges of making Beef Wellington:
- Learning how to cook the puff pastry perfectly without letting moisture ruin it and turning it into a soggy mess.
- Knowing how to NOT overcook the beef tenderloin in the center of the Beef Wellington while having the outside golden brown
I promise you don’t need divine intervention to make a perfect Beef Wellington. What you need is gentile guidance. I cannot stress these points enough:
Get as much moisture out of the duxelles as possible. Too much moisture will ruin the puff pastry.
Keep all of your ingredients cold. Prematurely warm puff pastry = poor puffage in the oven. Chilling the Wellington also helps it keep a uniform shape.
Prosciutto (or Parma ham) comes in two forms. Prosciutto crudo (a raw cured ham) and prosciutto cotto which is a cooked ham. I will use prosciutto crudo for an additional layer in our Beef Wellington recipe.
Prosciutto (I will refer to prosciutto crudo as just prosciutto for the remainder of this article) is made from high quality pork legs. The legs are salted for a period of time then washed and hung to dry at a certain temperature for an even longer time period. The resulting meat is safe to eat raw because of the curing process. Depending where prosciutto is made, the length of time it is hung, and what it is seasoned with will all contribute to different flavor profiles.
When using prosciutto for this recipe, you can either order it sliced thin from your butcher or buy it pre-packaged. For this Beef Wellington recipe, you will lay down overlapping pieces of prosciutto to form a prosciutto blanket for the duxelles and meat. Since prosciutto doesn’t have a very high moisture content itself, it makes another barrier to protect our puff pastry from moisture.
TIPS:
Overlap the prosciutto to make a solid sheet of meat. Any holes will allow moisture to escape
Chill the prosciutto prior to trying to remove from the packaging. If it gets warm it will tear easily
Take your time when handling prosciutto. If it does tear, push it back into place to cover the hole
Individual Beef Wellington BUT BETTAH!
FAQ
What cut of beef is best for Beef Wellington?
What is a good substitute for beef tenderloin in Beef Wellington?
Can you use sirloin in a Wellington?
Which beef tenderloin is best for Beef Wellington?
A center-cut beef tenderloin is the best cut for beef Wellington. This tender, boneless cut has very little gristle or fat and is fairly uniform in shape. When you’re shopping, look for a tenderloin that has an even thickness, which will help it cook more evenly. Beef Wellington is definitely a project, I’m not going to lie.
Does Beef Wellington need a pâté?
Traditional Beef Wellington recipes call for a pâté—often a foie gras pâté—of some sort to be smothered over the beef to add fat and flavor as it bakes. How can we improve upon this? How about instead of using a pâté, we use real pieces of fresh seared foie gras?
How do you make Beef Wellington sauce?
For the Beef Wellington Sauce: Add butter to the pan you seared the beef in, and set over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and thyme, and saute for 5 minutes to impart the flavors. Remove the pan from the heat, add the brandy, then if you’re using a gas stove, light the brandy to burn the alcohol off.
Why is Beef Wellington a tenderloin?
A tenderloin is a bland cut. That’s one of the reasons that beef Wellington exists—take a bland but tender cut of beef, and try and pack as much flavor and fat around it as possible. The start of this process is to sear it. Browning develops tons of new flavorful compounds that don’t exist naturally in beef, giving it complexity and meaty depth.