Gordon Ramsay's Classic Beef Wellington
- wilsonhayle
- Sep 19, 2019
- 6 min read
Updated: Jan 31, 2020
This is a long one, but stay with me here...
For Christmas this past year, I decided to venture out of my comfort zone of roasted turkey and stuffing, and went for it by trying Masterchef Kitchen's most fear dish: Gordon Ramsay's beef wellington...
For those familiar with the Master Chef tv show, almost all contestants truthfully hate watching Ramsay scrutinize every aspect of their dish... Who wouldn't though?
As posted on his website: https://www.gordonramsay.com/gr/recipes/beef-wellington/
I will also be posting on here, but with my own, non-educated annotations, so we're all in this together gang ;) FYI my annotations will be in this color
Forewarning, the man is British so we're using metrics, but I'll go ahead and convert them for you guys because I care and fuck metrics this is America.
Ingredients
For The Wellington:
2 x 400g beef fillets (This recipe is for serving 4 so best thing to do for the meat is to yes, go to a special butcher's shop, 'cause you can't get this at wally world, and just tell the butcher you're making beef wellington for 4 and judge for yourself)
Olive oil, for frying
500g mixture of wild mushrooms, cleaned (this is like 2 1/2 cups)
1 thyme sprig, leaves only
500g puff pastry (For this I just bought the Pillsbury puff pastry because if you were making puff pastry by hand, well then you probably wouldn't be here on this website now would you??)
8 slices of Parma ham (Also known as prosciutto- you can get this in the fancy meats section of most grocery stores)
2 egg yolks, beaten with 1 tbsp water and a pinch of salt (This is for the egg wash for those of you that are severely uneducated in culinary arts)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the Red Wine Sauce:
2 tbsp olive oil
200g beef trimmings (ask the butcher to reserve these when trimming the fillet) [Gordon used parenthesis so I have to use these bracket things... Anyways, I always forgot to ask my butcher about this so I just used a couple pieces of beef chuck that I already had in my freezer for this, you can too, it still works out fine!]
4 large shallots, peeled and sliced
12 black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1 thyme sprig
Splash of red wine vinegar
1 x 750ml bottle red wine (That means use the whole damn bottle y'all)
750ml beef stock (Online converter says 3.72cups so let's just go ahead and say 3 3/4 cups of beef stock for this one)
Directions
Wrap each piece of beef tightly in a triple layer of cling film to set its shape, then chill overnight. (I didn't chill overnight, I just set for 45 mins, worked just fine)
Remove the cling film, then quickly sear the beef fillets in a hot pan with a little olive oil for 30-60 seconds until browned all over and rare in the middle. Remove from the pan and leave to cool. (I'm emphasizing sear, and 30-60 seconds here...)
* Adding this annotation because Ramsay has multiple beef wellington recipes, and most, except for this recipe, call for English mustard to be spread over the meat before rolling it in the parma ham and puff pastry. I'm recommending that you add it for additional flavor! After searing your meat, spread English mustard (or dijon) over the hot meat and let it sit while you move on to the next step below. Carry on...*
Finely chop the mushrooms and fry in a hot pan with a little olive oil, the thyme leaves and some seasoning. When the mushrooms begin to release their juices, continue to cook over a high heat for about 10 minutes until all the excess moisture has evaporated and you are left with a mushroom paste (known as a duxelle). Remove the duxelle from the pan and leave to cool.
Cut the pastry in half, place on a lightly floured surface and roll each piece into a rectangle large enough to envelop one of the beef fillets. Chill in the refrigerator. (If you went ahead and got the Pillsbury puff pastry, then you don't have to worry about cutting the pastry here)
Lay a large sheet of cling film on a work surface and place 4 slices of Parma ham in the middle, overlapping them slightly, to create a square. Spread half the duxelle evenly over the ham.
Season the beef fillets, then place them on top of the mushroom-covered ham. Using the cling film, roll the Parma ham over the beef, then roll and tie the cling film to get a nice, evenly thick log. Repeat this step with the other beef fillet, then chill for at least 30 minutes. (When ramsay says tie here, he means basically roll that damn log of meat so tight with your cling film and tie the excess cling film on the ends so it stays tight. The tighter it is the better your wellington will come out. However, not so tight that your mushrooms are bursting through your parma ham)
Brush the pastry with the egg wash. Remove the cling film from the beef, then wrap the pastry around each ham-wrapped fillet. Trim the pastry and brush all over with the egg wash. Cover with cling film and chill for at least 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the red wine sauce. Heat the oil in a large pan, then fry the beef trimmings for a few minutes until browned on all sides. Stir in the shallots with the peppercorns, bay and thyme and continue to cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the shallots turn golden brown.
Pour in the vinegar and let it bubble for a few minutes until almost dry. Now add the wine and boil until almost completely reduced. Add the stock and bring to the boil again. Lower the heat and simmer gently for 1 hour, removing any scum from the surface of the sauce, until you have the desired consistency. Strain the liquid through a fine sieve lined with muslin. Check for seasoning and set aside. (Seriously let this simmer for an hour, if the sauce doesn't have enough time to reduce, the wine tastes sour. Let it simmer, to have a delicious sauce.)
When you are ready to cook the beef wellingtons, score the pastry lightly (He means give it a nice lil design here) and brush with the egg wash again, then bake at 200°C/Gas 6 for 15-20 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and cooked. Rest for 10 minutes before carving. (I cooked at 400f and checked frequently with a meat thermometer because god forbid this come out well done... Ugh. Rare to Med-Rare is what we are looking for folks. I think I ended up cooking it for about 30 mins to start, and then began periodically checking internal temp)
Meanwhile, reheat the sauce. Serve the beef wellingtons sliced, with the sauce as an accompaniment.
Ok, lot of information there... but if you read and then reread the instructions you'll do fine! Here's how mine came out!
Aaaaand two more photos because... well because look at it.
My dad described this meal as "So f#%king good it's almost disgusting." If that makes any sense to you guys...
Tips and Tricks
Baking pan:
As seen in this pictures, I used a rack underneath the wellington, because the first time I made it, the majority of the meat juices pooled underneath the wellington and softened the pastry, making it soggy. However, I had lined the pan with tinfoil, so this also could have been the culprit... So this time I figured that I would cook the wellington raised so that any juices would simply fall down to the bottom of the pan. I didn't grease the rack... this was a huge mistake. The crust of the pastry cooked onto the rack and it was borderline impossible to get the wellington off of it. Still, tasted f#%king PHENOMENAL!!!!! 10/10 would eat again.
Price:
Now buying this cut of meat is pricey (This is when you say "no shit Hayle, it's filet mignon"), so I would do this dish for a holiday or to mark an important occasion. But because it is expensive, for any first timers, I cannot advise enough to read and reread the instructions before diving in.
Overall
This dish really isn't too difficult, now it certainly isn't easy, but as long as you can follow instructions and know what you're supposed to do before you do it, you'll do fine! And sometimes a visual representation helps too... ;)
All in all, you can really do it!! Good Luck!
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