Thank you Gordon Ramsay!
Nick has wanted to make Beef Wellington for years and when searching for a video of it he came across a recipe and video from Gordon Ramsay’s the F-word. It looked reasonably easy and even though he knew very early what he wanted to make, he still needed to recruit help in getting all the ingredients.
A fantastic Beef Eye Fillet from a whole-sale butcher was chosen. It was the smallest one available and it was 1.3kg, so we decided two Beef Wellington’s were on the menu (even though one would have been sufficient to feed the six of us that were there – better to have too much than too little, and people were certainly going back for seconds).
Absolutely gorgeous!!
Neither pictures nor words can describe the texture and flavour of this dish, but I’ll try. I’ll also apologise for the photos, as they certainly don’t do it justice – being taken with bad lighting and a short amount of time (due to a table full of hungry family members).
This recipe was incredibly easy for the absolutely delectable, fantastic flavour combination of the fall-apart beef, mushroom paste, prosciutto and mustards topped off by a buttery, crispy, golden pastry.
Beef Wellington
(adapted from Gordon Ramsay’s – The F-word)
Serves: 4-6
650 – 700g beef eye fillet
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (even though Gordon says not to use it – we thought it may tone down the hot English mustard, although no burn was tasted)
1 teaspoon hot English mustard
4-6 mushrooms
8 slices prosciutto
2 sheets puff pastry
1 egg yolk, beaten
salt and pepper to taste
Heat a saucepan or BBQ tray on high. Season the fillet with salt and pepper, then lightly rub with olive oil and sear all edges, about 30 seconds on each side. Set aside to cool.
Beef Eye Fillet
Seared Beef Eye Fillet
Blend the mushrooms in a food processor until it has formed a paste. Heat a saucepan on medium to high and add the mushrooms (do not use any butter, oil or liquid to cook the mushrooms). Stir the mushrooms until most of the liquid has evaporated. Set aside to cool.
Blend the mushrooms and cook off excess liquid
Place a long sheet of cling film onto the counter. Place the prosciutto slices overlapping on the plastic, enough to cover the beef fillet. Carefully spread the mushroom mix over the prosciutto. Mix the mustards together and rub over the beef fillet. Lay the fillet on the mushroom, prosciutto layers and carefully move the plastic to encase the fillet in prosciutto tightly. Tie off the plastic ends and place in the fridge for 10 minutes.
Overlap proscuitto, spread with blended mushrooms and place mustard coated beef fillet on top
Roll the proscuitto up around the beef fillet and twist ends to seal - place in fridge
Preheat oven to 180°C. Take the puff pastry out of the freezer to thaw. Overlap puff pastry enough to encase the fillet.
Remove plastic from beef fillet and place in the middle of the puff pastry sheets. Brush egg yolk mix around the edges and encase the beef fillet in the puff pastry, folding under edges.
Brush the edges with egg yolk mix
Fold up the pastry sealing the beef inside
Place on baking tray lined with baking paper and brush with remaining egg yolk. Score the pastry for effect. Season with salt and pepper. Place in the oven and cook for 40 – 50 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown.
Score the pastry with a knife
Slice Beef Wellington thickly and serve with roast vegetables.
Please sir, I want some more...
