Looking for good Beef Wellington recipe

[DiLupo]

Hi!

I'm looking for a good Beef Wellington recipe. I can never get the pastry for the crust right! It either ends up too dry or else too soggy and just collapses. The meat on the inside is usually too red for my taste.

I was wondering if anyone here has a reliable and hopefully relatively simple recipe that a beginner could follow?

Thank you!
Ed

 

[Becky]

I don't really make a traditional Beef Wellington because my husband can't eat mushrooms, but the version I make is very simple. I always seal the beef fillet in a frying pan first, and then rub it all over with mustard. I don't tend to make my own puff pastry, I just use shop bought stuff - roll it out to the right size, and then spread it with a thin layer of pate avoiding the edges. Roll the fillet tightly in the pastry, and make sure that the overlapping pastry is sealed well and sits underneath the beef. Brush with egg wash and pop in the oven until the pastry is golden brown. Not having any veg also has the added benefit of reducing the amount of moisture, so the pastry will hopefully not go soggy!

If you like yours a little more well done, then you could try frying it for longer at the start - just be sure to let it rest a while and soak up the juices with some absorbent paper. Alternatively you could try making individual Beef Wellingtons!

 

[JGPangi]

I remember the head chef in my section making a mean Beef Wellington. Like Becky, he would always sear the beef first, then rest it for at least ten to fifteen minutes before rolling it up in the pastry. The pastry itself was made by our pastry section, but store-bought pastry is equally as good.

I think the duxelle's part in all of this is make sure that the meat keeps its juices to itself. You could always reduce the amount of moisture by cooking the mushroom mix first until it dries out sufficiently. If you don't want to do that, some deep cuts along the pastry top should serve as good ventilation.

I love Beef Wellington. Hope this helps!