Beef Wellington
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Beef Wellington

Gordon Ramsay's version of the classic steak dish - a show-stopping centrepiece on a special occasion

Difficulty and servings

For the keen cook

Serves 6

Preparation and cooking times

Cook time

Cook 1 hr - 2 hrs

Freezable

Method

  1. Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Sit the 1kg beef fillet on a roasting tray, brush with 1 tbsp olive oil and season with pepper, then roast for 15 mins for medium-rare or 20 mins for medium. When the beef is cooked to your liking, remove from the oven to cool, then chill in the fridge for about 20 mins.
  2. While the beef is cooling, chop 250g chestnut (and wild, if you like) mushrooms as finely as possible so they have the texture of coarse breadcrumbs. You can use a food processor to do this, but make sure you pulse-chop the mushrooms so they don't become a slurry.
  3. Heat 2 tbsp of the olive oil and 50g butter in a large pan and fry the mushrooms on a medium heat, with 1 large sprig fresh thyme, for about 10 mins stirring often, until you have a softened mixture. Season the mushroom mixture, pour over 100ml dry white wine and cook for about 10 mins until all the wine has been absorbed. The mixture should hold its shape when stirred. Remove the mushroom duxelle from the pan to cool and discard the thyme.
  4. Overlap two pieces of cling film over a large chopping board. Lay 12 slices prosciutto on the cling film, slightly overlapping, in a double row. Spread half the duxelles over the prosciutto, then sit the fillet on it and spread the remaining duxelles over. Use the cling film's edges to draw the prosciutto around the fillet, then roll 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.
  5. Dust your work surface with a little flour. Roll out a third of the 500g pack of puff pastry to a 18 x 30cm strip and place on a non-stick baking sheet. Roll out the remainder of the 500g pack of puff pastry to about 28 x 36cm. Unravel the fillet from the cling film and sit it in the centre of the smaller strip of pastry. Beat the 2 egg yolks with 1 tsp water and brush the pastry's edges, and 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 about a 4cm rim. Seal the rim with the edge of a fork or spoon handle. Glaze all over with more egg yolk and, using the back of a knife, mark the beef Wellington with long diagonal lines taking care not to cut into the pastry. Chill for at least 30 mins and up to 24 hrs.
  6. Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Brush the Wellington with a little more egg yolk and cook until golden and crisp - 20-25 mins for medium-rare beef, 30 mins for medium. Allow to stand for 10 mins before serving in thick slices.
Try

Trim carefully

Lower the chances of the edges separating by giving yourself lots of room - and don't trim the pastry too close to the meat.

Gordon's tips

Brush the meat as well as the pastry with egg wash. This will make the top layer of pastry stick to the meat and stop it from rising and leaving a gap.

Use up leftover pastry

Any leftover pastry is fine to use for something else, even if covered in egg. Simply roll it into a ball and refrigerate until needed.

Sealing the pastry

Use the rounded end of a fork or spoon handle to seal the edges rather than the prongs of a fork - using the prongs will only pierce the pastry rather than joining it.

Keep it air-free

Drape over the top layer of pastry very carefully, smoothing it down with your hands as you go. You don't want any air trapped between the pastry and the meat.

763 kcalories, protein 50.0g, carbohydrate 32.0g, fat 48.0 g, saturated fat 20.0g, fibre 0.0g, salt 2.46 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, December 2004.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 61-80

  • Binder photo Joolze

    09 December 2009

    Joolze rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    A spectacularly impressive main course and so easy to cook.

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  • Binder photo Isabella

    11 December 2009

    Isabella commented on this recipe

    When do you freeze? Is it at the end of stage 5?

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  • Binder photo Melanie Day

    22 December 2009

    Melanie Day rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    I used bacon rather that the prosicutto and assembled the wellingtons in the morning and then cooked them for the evening. The duxelle didnt seem to make very much so would make more of this next time. Tasted lovely and was easy to make.

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  • Binder photo molly

    25 December 2009

    molly rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo Sarah

    28 December 2009

    Sarah rated this recipe

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  • Binder photo lucyducker

    06 January 2010

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  • Binder photo sophvicell

    09 January 2010

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  • Binder photo LindaL

    14 January 2010

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  • Binder photo myra

    04 February 2010

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  • Binder photo alliei80

    09 February 2010

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  • Binder photo elrat

    16 February 2010

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  • Binder photo raymondo65

    18 February 2010

    raymondo65 rated this recipe

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  • Binder photo Amie

    23 February 2010

    Amie rated this recipe

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  • Binder photo Jess

    05 April 2010

    Jess rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    This was amazing, we used parma ham instead of proscuitto which went well. We decided to go for medium cooking time and it came out quite rare, probably because the fillet of beef we used was pretty big! Really great for special occasions, we made this for 4 people and still had some left over!

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  • Binder photo Nick B

    09 May 2010

    Nick B rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    My other half made this and it was amazing!! Even our 1 year old baby loved it too :0)

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  • Binder photo wendy

    05 June 2010

    wendy commented on this recipe

    fabulous recipe, served it to friends from Paris, it has the wow factor I would certainly cook it again for special friends

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  • Binder photo my food

    27 July 2010

    my food commented on this recipe

    My firends said "the best sunday lunch they had eaten for a long time" but as previous readers have said it definatly needs extra cooking time.

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  • Binder photo Reebeck

    17 August 2010

    Reebeck rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    So delicious! Me and my mom loved it. We've done it several times. A succes every time!

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  • Binder photo catarnold

    26 August 2010

    catarnold rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This recipe is amazing...made it last Christmas and will be making it again this year. Is is time consuming and you need to follow the instructions to the letter but ultimately it is so rewarding and yummy!

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  • Binder photo Egyptmania

    27 September 2010

    Egyptmania commented on this recipe

    This recipe looks soooooooooooooo good, however, I can do w/o the mushrooms. I don't like them period. I don't care how anybody makes them. I wonder if there is mushroom sub....? Also on the show "Hell's Kitchen" there is a sauce that goes with it. Also wondering what its made from and how to do it.

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Difficulty and servings

For the keen cook

Serves 6

Preparation and cooking times

Cook time

Cook 1 hr - 2 hrs

Freezable

Ingredients

  • a good beef fillet (preferably Aberdeen Angus) of around 1kg/2lb 4oz
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 250g/ 9oz chestnut mushroom , include some wild ones if you like
  • 50g/ 2oz butter
  • 1 large sprig fresh thyme
  • 100ml/ 3.5 fl oz dry white wine
  • 12 slices prosciutto
  • 500g/1lb 2oz pack puff pastry , thawed if frozen
  • a little flour , for dusting
  • 2 egg yolks beaten with 1 tsp water
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763 kcalories, protein 50.0g, carbohydrate 32.0g, fat 48.0 g, saturated fat 20.0g, fibre 0.0g, salt 2.46 g

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