Beef wellington is perhaps the ultimate showstopper dish: buttery beef and boozy mushrooms hidden in flaky pastry, ready for the big reveal at the table. It’s definitely one for a special occasion such as New Year’s Eve – not least because fillet is eye-wateringly expensive – but it’s surprisingly simple to make. All you have to do after a few glasses of fizz is stick it in the oven.
Prep 40 min+ soaking and cooling Cook 30-40 min Serves 4
500g beef fillet 10g dried porcini 2 shallots 300g mixed mushrooms (eg, chestnut, oyster, and shiitake) 50 butter 1 sprig thyme, leaves picked 200ml madeira 2 tbsp double cream Salt and black pepper 1 tbsp vegetable oil 250g all-butter puff pastry Flour, to dust 1 egg, beaten with a dash of milk or water 1 tbsp poppy seeds
Unfortunately, this is a dish that really only works with beef fillet – make sure you get the middle bit of the fillet, rather than the tail or head end, so it’s an even size along its length. Take it out of the fridge half an hour before you want to start cooking, so the meat comes up to room temperature.
Meanwhile, soak the porcini in 150ml boiling water for 20 minutes, then drain, reserving the soaking liquid for the sauce. Squeeze any excess liquid from the mushrooms back into the soaking liquid, then finely chop them.
Finely chop the shallots, and roughly chop or tear the fresh mushrooms. Melt the butter in a frying pan over a medium-low heat, cook the shallots until golden, then add the thyme leaves and all the mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms have softened completely.
Pour in three-quarters of the madeira, turn up the heat slightly and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, making sure the shallots don’t catch and burn as you do so. Take off the heat, scoop three-quarters of the mixture into a bowl, and put the rest into a second bowl. Stir the cream into the larger helping, and season to taste. Set aside.
Wipe the pan with kitchen paper and add the oil. Set over a high heat and, once the oil is smoking hot, sear the beef fillet briefly on all sides until well browned and crusted. It’s important to make sure the pan is hot enough, or the meat will overcook before it chars. Season and leave to cool. Don’t wash the pan; you’ll need it for the sauce.
Heat the oven, and a baking tray, to 220C/(200C fan)/425F/gas 7. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry into a 25cm x 30cm rectangle that’s about 3mm thick, with one of the longer edges facing you. Spread the pastry with the mushroom and cream mixture, leaving a couple of centimetres’ border around the edge; brush this with the egg wash.
Put the cooled beef at the end nearest you, then carefully roll up the pastry, ending with the seam side facing down. Trim the edges of the pastry and tuck them in securely at each end to seal the parcel, using more egg wash as glue. At this point, you can refrigerate the wellington for up to 24 hours, if you want, but slightly increase the cooking times if you do.
Brush the pastry all over with more egg wash and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Transfer to the hot baking tray and roast for about 30 minutes, until golden. It’s easiest to use a meat thermometer to judge when it’s done to your liking: rare should be 50-55C, medium rare 55-60C, medium 60-65C and well done 65-70C.
Rest the cooked wellington for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, put the pan you cooked the beef in back on the heat and add the remaining 50ml madeira. Scrape the pan to dislodge any crusty bits, then add the rest of the mushroom mixture and the porcini soaking liquid, and bubble until reduced. Season to taste and serve alongside the beef wellington.
