Best Beef Wellington - Beef filet wrapped in pastry (2024)

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    • Nov 20, 2023
    • 4 min read

Updated: May 1

Special occasions call for special meals, and Beef Wellington is one of those impressive dishes that always gets a good share of “oohs” and “ahhs”.

Best Beef Wellington - Beef filet wrapped in pastry (1)

What's a Beef Wellington? It’s a beef tenderloin (better know as "filet" outside of the US) covered in a mushroom paste (duxelles) and wrapped in puff pastry. It looks stunning, tastes amazing, and can be prepared up to the final bake the day before the event. I've incluced some tips at the end of the recipe to help you along and guarantee a fantastic result!

There are many different ways to make a Beef Wellington — sometimes the filet is wrapped in crèpes or prosciutto before being wrapped in puff pastry. We cover it in pâté. I have tried many different methods, and in the end I always come back to this one which, incidentally, is my mother's recipe — and we all know that mom's recipes are always best! She’s been making it this way for decades and it has never failed for either of us.

This is usually our Christmas dinner and there’s a lot of planning involved around its execution. Did we get the best filet? (Argentine in this house.) How will we decorate it? Should we make two just in case? And I always scramble for an end bit with a heavy pastry-to-beef ratio which I will generously douse in gravy. Happy tummies and no leftovers, the perfect meal. xoxo Kirsty

Best Beef Wellington - Beef filet wrapped in pastry (2)

Beef Wellington (serves 5-6)

  • 3 lb. (1.4 kg) beef tenderloin (filet)

  • 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil, or other vegetable oil with a high smoke point

  • 1 large can (approx. 5oz./140 g) goose liver pâté with truffles

  • 1 package (1 lb./450 g) puff pastry

  • 1 egg

Duxelles:

  • 8 oz. (225 g) fresh mushrooms, roughly chopped

  • 1/2 onion, roughly chopped

  • 1 shallot, roughly chopped

  • 2 oz. (56 g) cooked deli ham, roughly chopped

  • 2 tablespoons (30 g) butter

  • 1/4 cup (60 ml) Madeira Wine (or Port, sherry or brandy)

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

*When cooking meat, remove it from the fridge 20-30 before cooking it to allow it to come to room temperature, otherwise the result may be undercooked.

  1. Preheat the oven to 425°F/ 220°C. Brush the beef with oil. Place it on a rack which is resting on a roasting pan, and roast for 15 minutes for a rare finish, 20 minutes for medium. Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature. While it’s cooling, prepare the duxelles.

  2. To make the duxelles, add the chopped mushrooms, onion, shallot and ham to a food processor. Pulse until very finely chopped.

  3. Place a frying pan over medium heat, add the butter. When melted, add the duxelles, Madeira wine, salt and pepper. Fry, stirring from time to time until most of the liquid has evaporated.

  4. Spread the pâté over the entire cooled filet.

  5. Roll the puff pastry into a rectangle less than 1/4 inch thick. It should be large enough to comfortably wrap around the beef filet. Spread a quarter of the duxelles mixture in the middle of the puff pastry in a rectangle shape, about the same length and width as the filet. Place the filet on top of the patch of the duxelles and evenly cover the rest of the filet with the duxelles, patting it down with a spatula so it sticks to the pâté.

  6. Wrap the pastry around the length of the filet, moisten the long edge with a bit of water, and overlap to form a seam. The pastry on the short ends may need trimming. If so, trim them and brush with water, fold the edges under to finish wrapping the filet. It should be a nice compact package.

  7. Brush the entire Wellington with beaten egg. You can decorate the top using pastry scraps, brush them with egg as well. You can prepare the Wellington up to 24 hours in advance at this point, but make sure you remove it from the fridge 30-40 minutes before the final bake.

  8. Carefully transfer the Beef Wellington to a lightly greased baking sheet and bake in a pre-heated oven at 425°F/220°C for 20 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown.

  9. Remove the Wellington from the oven and let it rest in a warm place for 10 minutes before slicing. Do not cover it tightly with anything, otherwise the pastry may get soggy.

Slice and serve with our Get-Ahead Gravy, Scalloped Potato Gratin and our Make-Ahead Veggies!

TIPS for a beautiful Beef Wellington:

  • Remove the filet from the fridge at least 30 minutes before the first roast in the oven.

  • The ingredients for the duxelles should be very finely chopped — I recommened using a food processor if you have one.

  • The cooked filet must be cool before covering it in pâté, otherwise it will all melt off and you'll be left with a soggy mess.

  • Lightly grease the baking sheet before you put the Beef Wellington in the oven. I forgot once and it was a nightmare to get it off!

  • Do not cover the finished Beef Wellington while it's resting. It won't go cold (unless you leave it near an open window) but the pastry will go soggy if you cover it.

Best Beef Wellington - Beef filet wrapped in pastry (3)
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Best Beef Wellington - Beef filet wrapped in pastry (2024)

FAQs

What is the best puff pastry for Beef Wellington? ›

For best results, use a high-quality all-butter puff pastry, such as Dufour. Alternatively, make your own using this recipe. Foie gras pâté can be used in place of the fresh foie gras.

Can I use pie crust instead of puff pastry for Beef Wellington? ›

Use a rolling pin to roll out a pie crust on a lightly floured surface. Place one of your beef filets in the middle of the pie crust. Put half of the mushroom pate on top of the filet and top with one of your spare mushroom caps.

What is the difference between Beef Wellington and beef en croute? ›

The main difference between this Beef én Croute and a Beef Wellington is that this is a puff pastry parcel of fillet steak topped with pate and a Beef Wellington has no topping. In this recipe we are going to use pureed mushrooms and onions instead of pate.

What cut of beef is best for Beef Wellington? ›

Beef Wellington is a nice cut of meat, usually a fillet steak, beef tenderloin, or filet mignon. It uses the center-cut portion of the meat that is known to be the most tender and juicy part of the cow.

Can you use store-bought puff pastry for beef wellington? ›

Then fry up some chopped mushrooms and shallots in butter before wrapping the beef in prosciutto and the mushroom mixture. All that's left is unraveling some store-bought puff pastry and making a beautiful, woven, floral design before baking. It's hard to cut into this masterpiece, but the taste is worth it!

How many layers of phyllo dough should I use? ›

Typically, phyllo dishes should have a finished thickness of 3 to 10 sheets per layer. (A one-pound box of phyllo contains about 20 sheets.) Tip: Phyllo pastries can often be very brittle when baked. We recommend using a serrated knife to cut the finished dish to prevent all of the filling from squishing out.

Why does pastry fall off beef Wellington? ›

Cook the mushrooms until they release all their liquid

If they retain too much of it after being cooked in the pan, it will leak out onto the pastry. This will make it soggy and interfere with the carefully made layers of the Beef Wellington, as the pastry will likely break.

Is there a difference between puff pastry and phyllo dough? ›

The main differences between puff pastry and phyllo dough are their fat content and preparation. Puff pastry is a laminated dough that gets its signature airy puff from layers of butter, while phyllo dough is comparatively low-fat. Phyllo dough is mostly flour and water and can dry out easily.

Can you use phyllo dough in place of puff pastry? ›

In some cases, you could use them interchangeably – like for a pie crust or strudel. But for things that are very fluffy and flaky- like Baklava – you'd definitely want to use Phyllo dough.

Why is my Beef Wellington soggy? ›

Excess moisture doesn't make the beef extra juicy. Instead, it prevents the puff pastry from fully crisping up, ultimately causing the crust to get soggy. Luckily, using proper cooking techniques can prevent too much moisture from collecting in your beef Wellington.

Why is Beef Wellington so hard to make? ›

Beef wellington is not an easy dish to prepare with perfection. For starters, getting the tenderloin steak right is a challenge in itself. It has to be tender on the inside but decently firm on the outside, so it doesn't get mushed inside. The pâté and the duxelles are like preparing two individual dishes themselves.

What is Gordon Ramsay's best dish ever? ›

Gordon Ramsay's best recipes include Beef Wellington, Coq au Vin, Beef Stroganoff, Chicken Piccata, Rack of Lamb, Baked Salmon with Lemon and Dill, Shrimp Scampi, Beef and Guinness Stew, Spaghetti Carbonara, and Beef Burgundy.

Can I prep Beef Wellington the night before? ›

What's a Beef Wellington? It's a beef tenderloin (better know as "filet" outside of the US) covered in a mushroom paste (duxelles) and wrapped in puff pastry. It looks stunning, tastes amazing, and can be prepared up to the final bake the day before the event.

Do any supermarkets sell Beef Wellington? ›

Tesco Finest 2 Beef Wellingtons 505G - Tesco Groceries.

What can I use instead of tenderloin for Wellington? ›

The best cut of meat for Beef Wellington is a nice beef tenderloin, but you could really make this with a fillet steak or filet mignon if you want to try making smaller, individual beef wellingtons rather than a large one that you slice.

What pastry is beef wellington made from? ›

Beef Wellington is a steak dish of English origin, made out of fillet steak coated with pâté (often pâté de foie gras) and duxelles, wrapped in puff pastry, then baked.

Are puff pastry and phyllo dough the same thing? ›

The main differences between puff pastry and phyllo dough are their fat content and preparation. Puff pastry is a laminated dough that gets its signature airy puff from layers of butter, while phyllo dough is comparatively low-fat. Phyllo dough is mostly flour and water and can dry out easily.

What is the difference between classic puff pastry and rough puff pastry? ›

Rough puff pastry is prepared by incorporating butter or fat in the form of golf-ball size chunks into the dough, instead of the entire slabs used in classic puff pastry. This is followed by sheeting and folding with minimum or no resting time between successive folds.

What is the difference between puff pastry and flaky puff pastry? ›

Flaky pastry relies on large lumps of butter (approximately 1 in or 2.5 cm across) mixed into the dough, as opposed to the large rectangle of butter in puff pastry. Flaky pastry dough is then rolled and folded in a manner similar to puff pastry.

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