Individual Beef Wellingtons

Andi Healey
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Ingredients

• For the Beef:
• 2 beef fillet steaks (200g each, center cut, 3-4cm thick)
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• Sea salt
• Black pepper

For the Mushroom Duxelles:

• 250g chestnut mushrooms (finely chopped)
• 1 shallot (finely chopped)
• 2 garlic cloves (minced)
• 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
• 30g butter
• Salt and pepper

For Assembly:

• 6 slices prosciutto
• 320g all-butter puff pastry (ready-rolled)
• 1 egg (beaten, for egg wash)

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Method

Making the Mushroom Duxelles:

1. Prep the mushrooms: Finely chop the mushrooms - a food processor makes this easier, or just use a sharp knife and take your time. You want them very finely chopped but not puréed.
2. Cook down the mushrooms: Melt the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the shallot and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme, cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
3. Dry out completely: Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, until all the moisture has evaporated and the mixture is completely dry and paste-like. This is the most crucial step and takes 15-20 minutes. You'll think it's done before it is - keep going until there's absolutely no moisture left and the mixture pulls away from the pan. Season with salt and pepper, then spread on a plate to cool completely.

Preparing the Beef:

1. Sear the fillets: Season the beef generously with salt and pepper on all sides. Heat the oil in a heavy frying pan over high heat until smoking. Sear the beef for 1-2 minutes on each side, including the edges, until deeply browned all over but still completely raw inside. You're creating crust, not cooking the beef.
2. Mustard and cool: Transfer to a plate and brush each steak with Dijon mustard while still warm - the heat helps it adhere. Let cool completely to room temperature, then refrigerate for 20 minutes. This stops the beef cooking further and makes wrapping easier.

Wrapping the Beef:

1. Prepare the prosciutto: Lay out two sheets of cling film, each about 30cm long. On each sheet, lay 3 slices of prosciutto slightly overlapping to create a rectangle large enough to wrap each beef fillet completely.
2. Add the duxelles: Spread half the cooled mushroom duxelles evenly over each prosciutto layer, leaving a small border.
3. Wrap tightly: Place one chilled beef fillet in the centre of each duxelles-covered prosciutto layer. Use the cling film to help you tightly roll the prosciutto around the beef, creating a neat, tight cylinder. Twist the ends of the cling film to secure like a Christmas cracker. Refrigerate for 30 minutes minimum to firm everything up.

Wrapping in Pastry:

1. Prepare the pastry: Remove the puff pastry from the fridge 10 minutes before using so it's pliable but still cold. Cut the pastry sheet in half to make two pieces.
2. Wrap each Wellington: Remove the cling film from the beef parcels. Place one beef parcel in the center of each pastry piece. Brush the edges of the pastry with beaten egg. Fold the pastry over the beef, trimming any excess (you don't want too many layers), and press the edges firmly to seal. Place seam-side down on a lined baking tray.
3. Decorate and first egg wash: Score the top decoratively with a sharp knife - traditional diagonal lines, or get creative - but don't cut all the way through the pastry. Brush all over with egg wash, getting into all the cracks. Refrigerate for 30 minutes - this helps the butter in the pastry stay solid until it hits the oven, giving you better rise and flakiness.

Baking:

1. Preheat: While the Wellingtons chill, preheat your oven to 200°C (180°C fan).
2. Second egg wash: Remove from the fridge and brush with egg wash a second time. This double coating is what creates that deep, glossy, golden color.
3. Bake: Bake for 25-30 minutes for medium-rare. The pastry should be deep golden brown all over. Use a meat thermometer - you're looking for 48-50°C internal temperature for perfect medium-rare. If you prefer medium, aim for 55-57°C but honestly, it's a crime to cook good beef beyond medium-rare.
4. Rest: Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing. This allows the juices to redistribute through the meat. Resist the urge to cut immediately.

To Serve:

Slice each Wellington in half on a diagonal to reveal those beautiful layers - golden pastry, dark duxelles, pink prosciutto, perfectly pink beef. Or serve whole and let your guest experience that moment of discovery themselves.

Serve with roasted vegetables, dauphinoise potatoes, or a simple green salad. Red wine jus or peppercorn sauce if you're feeling extra ambitious, but honestly, done properly, this needs nothing.

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Chef's Tips

Full disclosure: This is proper cooking. Individual Wellingtons take 90 minutes and require attention to detail. But if you want to genuinely impress, if you want to create something worth photographing, this is it.

The duxelles is everything: Wet mushrooms = soggy pastry = sad Wellington. You think they're dry, then you cook them another 5 minutes and more liquid appears. Keep going until there's genuinely no moisture left. This single step determines whether your Wellington is triumphant or disappointing.

Temperature matters at every stage: Cold components are easier to wrap. Warm beef melts the butter in the pastry before it hits the oven, making everything greasy and preventing that flaky rise. Each chilling step matters.

The meat thermometer is not optional: This is the difference between legend status and "well, the pastry was nice." 48-50°C for medium-rare. Check it. Five degrees either way changes everything.

Double egg wash: The first coat seals the pastry and gives the second coat something to grip. The second coat browns beautifully. Don't skip the second application.

Practice the wrapping: The first time you do this, you might feel like you're wrestling with cling film and pastry. That's normal. By the second time, you'll have the technique down. By the third, you'll look like a professional.

Timing strategy: You can make the duxelles the day before. You can sear and wrap the beef in prosciutto in the morning. You can even fully assemble the pastry-wrapped Wellingtons 24 hours ahead and keep them chilled. Just add 5 minutes to baking time if they're going in fully cold.

Leftover duxelles: Freeze it. It's brilliant on toast, stirred through pasta, or used as a base for soup.

The reveal: That moment when you slice through the golden pastry to reveal pink beef surrounded by dark duxelles? That's the moment you become a legend. Make sure there's good lighting for photos.

Drink Pairing

This is not the time for subtle wines. Beef Wellington deserves bold, structured reds that can stand up to the richness of the beef and the butter in the pastry:

Red Bordeaux - The classic pairing. A good Saint-Émilion or Pauillac with some age has the tannins to cut through the fat and the complexity to match the dish's elegance.

Cabernet Sauvignon - Napa or Margaret River. Big, bold, unapologetic. The tannins grip the beef, the dark fruit complements the savory mushrooms.

Côte-Rôtie - If you want something different. Northern Rhône Syrah brings pepper and dark fruit that works beautifully with beef and mushrooms.

Barolo or Barbaresco - For the wine nerds. Nebbiolo's tannins and acidity can handle this, and the earthy notes mirror the duxelles.

Serve at room temperature (16-18°C) in proper Bordeaux glasses - Riedel's Bordeaux Grand Cru or Vinum Cabernet shapes work perfectly. The wine needs room to breathe, and these glasses deliver the tannins and fruit in proper balance.

Decant anything with serious tannins for at least an hour before serving. This dish and wine combination is worth taking seriously.

Why This Recipe Works

The technique isn't particularly difficult, it just requires organization. Make the duxelles first, sear the beef, let it cool, wrap everything, chill, then bake. Each step is straightforward; there are just several of them.

What you're creating is a series of layers that each serve a purpose:

• The mustard adds sharpness and helps season the beef
• The duxelles creates an earthy, umami layer while insulating the beef from direct heat
• The prosciutto adds saltiness and helps hold everything together
• The pastry provides that textural contrast and buttery richness

When done properly, you cut through crisp, golden pastry into tender beef that's evenly pink from edge to edge, all wrapped in that dark, concentrated mushroom layer. It's architectural. It's beautiful. And it tastes as good as it looks.

Cost reality: Two 200g beef fillets cost £18-22. Add mushroom duxelles, prosciutto, puff pastry. You're spending £30 total for something restaurants charge £45 per person for. That's £90 for two in a restaurant vs £30 at home. The price of showing off has never been more reasonable.

Dietary Variations

Gluten-free: Use gluten-free puff pastry. The rest of the recipe works identically.

Meat alternatives: You're not going to love this, but Wellington technique works with large portobello mushrooms or thick-cut celeriac for vegetarians. Obviously not the same thing, but the technique translates.

Dairy-free pastry: Some puff pastries are accidentally vegan (check labels). Won't be quite as buttery, but still flaky.

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