Beef Wellington

Here’s how to make the ultimate beef wellington! There’s a perfectly cooked fillet, duxelles, bresaola & crêpes, all wrapped in flaky pastry.

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The ultimate, homemade beef wellington!

This is one of those dishes that is reserved for a special occasion. Mainly because of how much work is involved but also because it’s pretty expensive to make. It’s definitely worth it though, this classic beef dish is incredibly delicious!

Inside the super flaky pastry, there’s a piece of perfectly cooked, medium rare fillet of beef, rich & flavourful mushroom duxelles, delicate bresaola & homemade crêpes. 5 simple components that come together to make something special!

Beef wellington might seem tricky to make but don’t let this put you off, it’s not as hard as it seems, especially when you use our easy to follow recipe. Serve this with a generous amount of homemade gravy & plenty of roast potatoes & you’re onto a real winner that’s sure to impress!

Components Of A Beef Wellington

There’s quite a few variations of the classic beef wellington, although there are a few non negotiables (fillet of beef, mushroom duxelles & flaky pastry). Here’s what we’re using in ours…

Fillet Of Beef

The main attraction! We’re using a 1 kg piece of centre cut fillet, which will serve at least 6 people. A dry aged piece of fillet provides the best flavour! We’re going to be cooking our beef medium rare, which in my opinion, is the best way to serve it.

Mushroom Duxelles

Next up is our duxelles. This is a classic French mushroom filling that has a paste like texture & is made with finely chopped mushrooms, shallots, garlic, fresh thyme & a splash of sherry. The key here is cooking the mushrooms until all of the moisture has been evaporated. For the best flavour, I like to use a mix of mushrooms (I used portobello, chestnut & cup mushrooms).

Bresaola

This is a type of cured meat, made with beef. I’ve used bresaola in my wellingtons ever since reading The Pie Room cookbook by Calum Franklin. Bresaola has a meatier yet more delicate flavour than prosciutto (this lets the flavour of the beef fillet shine through!).

Crêpes

Crêpes are a classic component & work great for providing a moisture barrier between the meat & the pastry (no soggy pastry here!). We’re using a half batch of my classic French Crêpes recipe here (without the sugar), as we only need four crêpes for a wellington of this size.

Rough Puff Pastry

Lastly, we have the pastry. We have 2 options here. We can either use shop bought puff pastry or we can make our own rough puff pastry. Either way the wellington will turn out great! If you did want to make your own pastry, I’d recommend making a batch & a half of our seriously flaky rough puff pastry.

How To Assemble A Beef Wellington

The Filling

1. Lay a double layer of clingfilm onto your work surface. Make sure that there is enough clingfilm so that you’ll be able to tie each end off.
2. Arrange four crêpes in the middle of the clingfilm. They should sit 2 crêpes wide & 2 tall and should overlap slightly, so that there aren’t any gaps.
3. Top the crêpes with a single layer of thinly sliced bresaola, overlapping these slightly as well. The meat should almost completely cover the crêpes. You may need to cut a few slices of bresaola in half so that they fit.
4. Spoon mushroom duxelles on top of the bresaola, spreading it out with a palette knife into an even layer that almost completely covers the meat.
5. Remove the clingfilm from the fillet then lay it horizontally across the middle of the mushrooms, near the top edge.
6. Using the clingfilm, carefully roll the crêpes/mushrooms around the beef. Make sure to tuck the edges of the crêpes underneath, to seal before rolling into a tight sausage & tying off each end. Chill this in the fridge overnight.

The Wellington

1. The next day, roll pastry out into a 40cm x 50cm rectangle (it should be 5mm thick). Brush the pastry lightly with egg wash then carefully remove the clingfilm from the filling then place horizontally in the middle of the pastry, near the top edge.
2. Starting with the edge furthest away from you, tightly wrap the pastry around the filling. If necessary, trim some of the excess pastry from the bottom edge then roll the wellington over, to seal. The pastry should only overlap by a couple of centimetres.
3. Gently flatten the excess pastry from each end with your hands then trim most of it off, leaving a few centimetres. Tuck the pastry underneath the wellington then place it seam side down, on a lined baking tray. Brush the wellington all over with a light layer of egg wash.

The Lattice

Now you don’t have to finish your wellington with a pastry lattice but it sure looks good & isn’t as difficult to do as it seems. The key here is to use well chilled pastry & a lattice roller. Make sure to double check that the roller cut through the pastry properly before placing on the wellington. If you haven’t got a lattice roller, I would recommend lightly scoring the top of the wellington with the back of a knife instead.

Here’s how to make a pastry lattice…

1. Roll 300 grams of pastry out into a 5mm thick rectangle. This should be slightly longer than your wellington & roughly 15 cm wide. Chill this in the fridge whilst you roll the filling in pastry.
2. Once you’ve assembled & egg washed the wellington, take the pastry out of the fridge & run a lattice roller down its’ length.
3. Use a sharp knife to cut through any pastry that wasn’t cut with the roller.
4. Carefully stretch the lattice with your hands then lay over the top of the wellington.
5. Gently stretch the lattice so that it completely covers the wellington then tuck the edges underneath, trimming any excess pastry off if necessary.
6. Brush egg wash over the lattice then place a fresh thyme leaf in each gap. Season with sea salt then bake.

How To Make Beef Wellington – 3 Day Schedule

There’s quite a lot of work involved in making a homemade beef wellington. Luckily we’re spreading the workload over 3 days! Here’s the schedule I follow when making a wellington at home.

Day 1

There’s not much to do on the first day. All we’re doing here is trimming any sinew from the beef fillet then rolling it in clingfilm, to give it a uniform shape & thickness. The beef then gets placed into the fridge & left overnight.

Day 2

Most of our prep is done on the second day. If you’re making your own rough puff pastry, you’ll need to make it today as well.

1. Searing The Beef
   First, we need to sear our beef in a super hot pan, until browned well. We then brush the outside with English mustard, leave it to cool then roll it in clingfilm again. This gets chilled in the fridge whilst we prep the rest of the components.
2. Mushroom Duxelles
   Next, we make our mushroom duxelles. To do this, we cook finely diced shallots & grated garlic in butter, until soft (use the beef searing pan!) then transfer to a bowl.
   Now we set the pan over a high heat, add in a splash of veg oil, followed by finely chopped mushrooms & a good pinch of salt. This gets cooked until all of the moisture has evaporated then we deglaze the pan with sherry & stir in the cooked shallots & some finely chopped thyme leaves. We season the mushrooms with pepper then leave the duxelles to cool completely, in a kitchen paper lined dish.
3. Crêpes
   Whilst our mushrooms are cooling down, we make the crêpes. We’re making these the classic way, with a batter made with flour, melted butter, egg, milk & pinch of salt. We cook them in a large frying pan, for 30 seconds on each side then let them cool completely.
4. Assembling The Filling
   Once all of our components are cooled down, we can assemble the filling. There’s a full step by step guide above on how to do this!

Day 3

This is the final day & is when we will serve our wellington. Make sure to give yourself plenty of time to prep, cook & rest the beef. If you’re planning to serve at 5 pm (for example), I’d aim to get the beef wellington in the oven at around half past 3 in the afternoon.

1. Roll Filling In Pastry
   First, we roll out our pastry into a 40cm x 50 cm rectangle then use this to wrap around the beef filling. There’s a full guide on how to do this above!
2. Lattice
   Once the filling has been wrapped, we brush the pastry all over with egg wash then top with a homemade pastry lattice (more on this in the section above). We give the lattice a light coating with egg wash then chill the wellington in the fridge, for 30 minutes.
3. Baking
   Next, we add a thyme leaf into each gap in the lattice then sprinkle with sea salt. Then we bake the wellington at 210°c/410°f until the internal temperature in the middle of the beef reaches 42°c-46°c (110°f-115°f). This gives us a perfect medium rare once rested. The wellington will take roughly 40-50 minutes to cook.
4. Resting
   Once cooked, we let the beef rest for at least 30 minutes then we cut it into thick slices & serve immediately.

What To Serve With Beef Wellington

Feel free to serve your beef wellington with whatever you like! I tend to serve mine with some roast potatoes, some sautéed greens & a really good homemade gravy. Bernaise sauce, fondant potatoes or dauphinoise potatoes would be some other good choices.

Beef Wellington Tips & Tricks

• Don’t Rush – There’s quite a few different components to make for a beef wellington so it’s best to give yourself plenty of time to prep, cook & rest it.
• Use A Centre Cut Fillet – Ask your butcher for a centre cut beef fillet. This has a uniform thickness, which means that it will cook more evenly.
• Roll In Clingfilm – For uniform beef that is cooked evenly throughout, it’s best to roll it in clingfilm at each stage of the assembly process (before & after searing and once assembled).
• Make Your Own Pastry – Homemade puff pastry is best for beef wellington (in my opinion) & is easier to make & more robust than homemade puff pastry.
• Use A Food Probe – The best way to determine whether you’re beef is cooked, is to use a food probe to measure the internal temperature. I’d recommend a Thermapen.
• Cook At A High Temp – Pastry cooks best at a higher oven temperature & won’t turn soggy when cooked like this. Don’t worry about overcooking the beef, it has plenty of insulation.
• Rest Well – Make sure to rest your wellington for at least 30 minutes before serving. This lets the beef come up to temperature & reabsorb its’ juices.
• Slice With A Sharp Knife – Using a sharp serrated knife is key to getting the cleanest cuts.

Frequently Asked Questions

How To Cook Beef Wellington In An Aga

With all of my recipes, I include cooking instructions for conventional ovens, fan ovens & also Agas. Here’s how to cook this recipe in an Aga…

To sear the beef, use the boiling plate. Cook the shallots (for the duxelles) on the simmering plate then move to the boiling plate to cook the mushrooms. Cook the crêpes using the boiling plate as well. Bake the wellington in the roasting oven, on a grid shelf placed on the floor. If the pastry needs more colour towards the end of the cook, move the tray up to the bottom set of runners.

Equipment Used

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• Thermapen Food Probe
• Large Baking Tray
• Lattice Roller
• Microplane
• Large Pan
• Baking Tray
• Tweezers

What’s For Dessert?

Want to finish your meal with a next level, homemade dessert? Here’s what we’d recommend…

• Apricot & Almond Frangipane Tart
• Coffee Stracciatella Ice Cream
• Amaretto Tiramisu
• Brown Butter & Miso Treacle Tart

Watch How To Make This Recipe

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