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Bœuf Wellington

Beef fillet with mustard, duxelles and Bayonne ham in puff pastry

1h (+ chilling) Serves 4 to 6 Advanced
Whole baked beef Wellington with a golden decorated puff pastry crust
Whole Wellington after baking, with a scored and decorated crust.
Sliced beef Wellington showing rare beef, mushroom duxelles, ham, and puff pastry
Cross-section after resting and slicing.
Plated slice of beef Wellington with green asparagus and sauce
Served with asparagus and meat-glaze sauce.

Wellington

  • ~1 kg beef fillet (centre cut)
  • Dijon mustard
  • 1 packet puff pastry (pâte feuilletée)
  • thin slices of Bayonne ham
  • 1 egg (for the wash)
  • thyme sprigs
  • fleur de sel

Duxelles

  • 500 g mushrooms
  • 2 shallots
  • butter

To serve

  • potato purée
  • green beans (or asparagus)
  • meat-glaze sauce (sauce glace de viande)

The Christmas centrepiece. A seared beef fillet is brushed with mustard, wrapped in a dry mushroom duxelles and Bayonne ham, then in puff pastry, and baked to a rosy medium-rare. Served with piped purée, green beans and a meat-glaze sauce. Chill it well at each stage so it holds its shape and the pastry stays crisp.

Method

Sear the fillet

  1. Season the fillet and sear it hard on all sides in a very hot pan, so it colours without cooking through. Cool completely, then brush all over with Dijon mustard.

Duxelles

  1. Chop the mushrooms and shallots very finely. Cook them down in butter until dry, with no moisture left, then cool. A wet duxelles will make the pastry soggy.

Roll

  1. Lay out cling film and arrange the Bayonne ham in an overlapping sheet. Spread the duxelles over it, set the fillet on top, and roll it up tightly into an even log. Chill until firm.

Wrap in pastry

  1. Roll out the puff pastry, wrap the log and seal the edges. Egg-wash, then score a light quilt pattern and tuck a small thyme sprig into each diamond. Egg-wash again and chill.

Bake

  1. Bake in a hot oven (around 200°C) until the pastry is deep golden and the core reaches about 50 to 52°C for medium-rare. Rest before slicing.

Go by a probe. The core temperature is far more reliable than a time for the doneness you want.

Serve

  1. Slice and finish each slice with fleur de sel. Pipe the purée around the plate, or to one side with the green beans, and serve with the meat-glaze sauce.

Background

Two things keep the pastry crisp: a bone-dry duxelles and cold at every stage. Chill the ham-and-duxelles log, then chill again once wrapped in pastry, so it goes into a hot oven firm.

The Bayonne ham is both flavour and insurance. It wraps the fillet and holds the duxelles against the meat, keeping juices off the pastry.

Mistakes I've Made

  • A wet duxelles. Cook the mushrooms until completely dry. Any moisture steams the pastry from the inside.
  • Guessing the doneness. Use a probe and pull it at about 50 to 52°C core for medium-rare. Resting carries it a little further.

Sources

  • Bœuf Wellington — Personal notes (Repas de Noël 2023)