Beef Wellington

I usually make Beef Wellington every Christmas but sometimes I make an exception and make it fora special guest. I developed this recipe over the years starting with the one from Saveur magazine. Here is how I make Beef Wellington.

Ingredients:

2.5-3 lb of beef tenderloin
1 lb of sliced prosciutto
1/2 lb of crimini mushrooms
2 small shallots, minced
1 package of frozen puff pastry (Aussie Bakery brand)
1 tablespoon of dijon mustard
1 cup of beef stock
1/2 cup of red wine
1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon of butter
Canola oil spray
1 egg, beaten
fresh thyme
Salt and pepper
Flour to roll the pastry dough

Preparation:

1. Defrost frozen puff pastry at a room temperature for about 2 hours before use.

2. Wash and clean mushrooms. Using food processor chop mushrooms finely. Spray generously pan with the canola oil spray. On medium heat fry mushrooms and half of the shallots until all water from the mushrooms has evaporated. Transfer cooked mushrooms into a separate bowl.

3. In the same pan fry beef tenderloin on all sides until brown. Don't wash the pan, keep it for making the sauce.

4. The next step is to assemble prosciutto, mushrooms and beef together. I used a cutting board and put a layer of saran wrap on it. I layered slices of prosciutto first, overlaying them on top of each other. Next spread mushroom-shallot mixture all over the prosciutto and sprinkled with the fresh chopped thyme. I spread mustard on each side of the tenderloin. I placed tenderloin on the edge of the prosciutto-mushroom-shallot layer and then rolled it all up as tight as possible keeping saran wrap on top and using it to make the roll tighter. I next placed tenderloin wrapped in plastic in a fridge for 30 minutes.

5. Preheat oven to 425F. I used both puff pastry layers from the package. Put each dough layer on top of each other and roll it out. Take tenderloin wrapped in prosciutto-mushroom-shallot layer out of the plastic wrap and place it on the rolled out dough. I then eyeballed how much dough I need to get this meat all wrapped up and cut unnecessary dough off. I used egg wash (1 beaten egg) to seal the pastry together and then flipped the tenderloin seam side down. I cut the leaves with a knife from the dough leftovers and placed them on top of the tenderloin and then spread the rest of the egg wash all over the pastry and leaves. Spray the baking sheet with the canola oil spray and place the Beef Wellington on it. Bake for 40 minutes in the oven.


6. After 40 minutes take a measurement of the meat's temperature. We like our meat medium-rare (on a rare side), so 40 minutes was just right.


7. Last step is to make the sauce. Use the same pan (that you have not washed yet) where you fried the beef. Preheat the pan on medium heat, add shallots and fry until translucent. Deglaze the pan with red wine and scrape any leftover beef bits. Add beef stock and chopped fresh thyme. Salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat. Simmer until the sauce thickens and is reduced by half. Add cream and stir. Cook the sauce for another 30 seconds to a minute. Take off the heat, add cold butter and mix. Taste the sauce. Slice Beef Wellington into inch and a half slices and serve it with the sauce on top and mashed potatoes.