← Nouns Cooking · British & Irish

Ingredients

• 1 kg centre-cut beef fillet, trimmed
• 2 tbsp Olive oil
• 2 tbsp English mustard
• 400 g chestnut mushrooms, very finely chopped
• 25 g Butter
• 1 clove Garlic, crushed
• 2 sprigs Thyme, leaves picked
• 10 slices prosciutto or Parma ham
• 500 g all-butter puff pastry
• 1 tbsp plain flour, for dusting
• 2 egg yolks, beaten with 1 tsp water
• Salt
• Black pepper

Method

1. Season the beef well. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over high heat and sear the fillet on every side, about 1–2 min per side, until deeply browned. Lift onto a plate, brush all over with the mustard and let it cool.
2. In the same pan, melt the butter over medium-high heat and add the mushrooms, garlic and thyme. Cook for 10–12 min, stirring, until every bit of liquid has gone and you have a dry, dark paste. Season and cool completely.
3. Lay two overlapping sheets of cling film on the worktop. Arrange the ham on it in overlapping rows, spread the mushroom paste over it, then set the beef on top. Use the film to roll everything into a tight log, twist the ends and chill for 20 min.
4. Roll the pastry on a floured surface into a rectangle about 3 mm thick and big enough to wrap the beef. Unwrap the beef, set it on the pastry, brush the edges with egg yolk and fold the pastry over to enclose it, trimming the excess. Turn it seam-side down and chill for 30 min.
5. Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan, 400°F) with a baking tray inside. Brush the parcel with more yolk, lightly score a criss-cross pattern on top and sprinkle with a little salt.
6. Slide the Wellington onto the hot tray and bake for 35–40 min until the pastry is deep golden. A thermometer in the middle should read about 50°C (122°F) for medium-rare.
7. Rest it for 10 min, then cut into thick slices with a serrated knife.

Tips

• The mushroom layer must be properly dry or the pastry underneath will go soggy.
• Make it up to the end of step 4 the day before and keep it chilled; add 5 min to the baking time.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

BBC Good Food Jamie Oliver Olive Magazine RecipeTin Eats