Beef Wellington
It has been a ripper season for mushrooms with thousands of the little fungus popping up in the forests and fields. For those who can’t get out for a forage, Daylesford has a ripper mushroom grower called So Mush Goodness at the Sunday farmer’s market. Mushrooms are the essential ingredient in this classic beef dish that is making a retro comeback. Serve Beef Wellington with some local greens and a good cool-climate pinot noir and you’ll have the perfect weekend lunch. Plus, it’s a surprisingly easy recipe to make.
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
1 x whole beef eye fillet
60ml extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
500g mushrooms
50g butter
Sprig thyme
100ml white wine
Puff pastry
Plain flour
egg wash
Method
Preheat the oven to 220°C fan. With a sharp knife trim any silver away from the fillet. Discard. Rub one tablespoon of the oil into the fillet and season with salt and pepper. Place on a roasting tray and roast for 20 minutes. Remove, cool, cover, refrigerate.
Make the mushroom duxelles by chopping the mushrooms finely as possible so they are similar to coarse breadcrumbs. Heat the remaining oil with the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and thyme and cook for 10 minutes, stirring often until soft. Deglaze with the wine. Continue cooking until the wine has cooked out. Check seasoning. Allow the mushroom duxelles to cool. Discard the thyme.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Dust the bench with a little flour. Lay out a sheet of pastry. Cover with a layer of duxelles. Place the fillet on top. It may need to be trimmed to fit. Place half a sheet of pastry on top. This will become the bottom. Brush the edges with egg wash. Roll up the pastry and fold the edges over. Invert and place on a roasting tray, brush with egg wash, decorate, brush again. Roast for 20-25 minutes until the pastry is golden brown. Allow to rest for 10 minutes. Slice and serve.
See below for a printable recipe card version.
Beef Wellington
Ingredients
- 1 x whole beef eye fillet
- 60ml extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- 500g mushrooms
- 50g butter
- Sprig thyme
- 100ml white wine
- Puff pastry
- Plain flour
- egg wash
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 220°C fan. With a sharp knife trim any silver away from the fillet. Discard. Rub one tablespoon of the oil into the fillet and season with salt and pepper. Place on a roasting tray and roast for 20 minutes. Remove, cool, cover, refrigerate.
- Make the mushroom duxelles by chopping the mushrooms finely as possible so they are similar to coarse breadcrumbs. Heat the remaining oil with the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and thyme and cook for 10 minutes, stirring often until soft. Deglaze with the wine. Continue cooking until the wine has cooked out. Check seasoning. Allow the mushroom duxelles to cool. Discard the thyme.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C. Dust the bench with a little flour. Lay out a sheet of pastry. Cover with a layer of duxelles. Place the fillet on top. It may need to be trimmed to fit. Place half a sheet of pastry on top. This will become the bottom. Brush the edges with egg wash. Roll up the pastry and fold the edges over. Invert and place on a roasting tray, brush with egg wash, decorate, brush again. Roast for 20-25 minutes until the pastry is golden brown. Allow to rest for 10 minutes. Slice and serve.
