Easy Ground Beef Wellington recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why is Beef Wellington so hard to make? ›

Beef wellington is not an easy dish to prepare with perfection. For starters, getting the tenderloin steak right is a challenge in itself. It has to be tender on the inside but decently firm on the outside, so it doesn't get mushed inside. The pâté and the duxelles are like preparing two individual dishes themselves.

Phyllo provides a moisture barrier, preventing the puff pastry from getting soggy. A double layer of plastic wrap makes it easier to wrap up the tenderloin.

Cut the slices around an inch thick

Though you might have different preferences for slice thickness when dealing with other types of meat, when it comes to Beef Wellington, very thin slices are prone to falling apart, and very thick slices will be too filling and lose the delicate look and feel of a Beef Wellington.

Beef Wellington is a dish that is rated under the “top 10 hardest dishes to make”, at number 4. One of the hardest parts of this dish is cooking the meat correctly, and not over cooking it. Typically a beef wellington's tenderloin should be at a medium rare – which is not always an easy feat to achieve.

You can prepare the Wellington up to 24 hours in advance at this point, but make sure you remove it from the fridge 30-40 minutes before the final bake.

Due to the relatively quick cooking time, the tenderloin (or fillet) is really the only cut that can be successfully used in a beef wellington. That said, I have seen individual wellingtons made with a normal ribeye steak. Basically, get steaks that are about 1 inch/3cm thick and trim off all the outside fat.

However, crepes are optional, you'll see many different recipes and some use crepes and some don't. You can make your own crepes using my recipe, or get some already made from the grocery store. Prosciutto – Prosciutto has good flavor, and is delicately sweet, and salty. It pairs well with the beef.

But Kenji takes it one step further by wrapping the prosciutto, duxelles, and loin in filo dough before wrapping it in puff pastry. Why? Because filo is great at making packets that contain liquid, and that's great for keeping your puff pastry from getting soggy, one of the common problems with Beef Wellington.

Place slices of beef wellington on a wire rack on top of a baking sheet. Cover loosely with foil. Place in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

Should Beef Wellington be room temperature before cooking? ›

Before prepping the meat take it out of the fridge to get to room temperature. Use a sheet of puff pastry and keep the leftovers to make some fun decorations on top of the beef wellington . Use your instant read thermometer to make sure the beef is cooked properly.

Bake in 425°F oven 35 to 50 minutes or until golden brown and instant-read thermometer inserted into center of roast registers 135°F for medium rare; 150°F for medium.

"Suodui" is a traditional Chinese dish that involves stir-frying stones with vegetables and spices. The experience involves savouring the spicy flavours while delicately extracting the small rocks and discarding them.

Browning the meat on all sides, including the ends, does tons for the flavor of the Wellington as a whole. The mushrooms: AKA the duxelle, this mixture of mushrooms, shallots, and thyme is SUPER savory. As if beef tenderloin wasn't bringing enough umami, this mixture takes it to the next level.

It's actually quite easy to make in just 4 simple steps, but it does take some time to cook down into a paste. This is one of the most important steps when making beef wellington. If you do not let all of the liquid cook out of the duxelles, you will end up with soggy puff pastry dough.

A typical beef Wellington at a restaurant may cost you around $100 and can feed 2 people. My recipe will cost that same amount and feed 4-5 people.

However, what I can say is that I take my Wellington out of the oven when the pastry is done. It's always medium rare at that point. I'm pretty sure that if left in until the meat was well done, the pastry would be pretty much ruined.

Bake in a hot oven (220C/425F/Gas mark 7) for about 40 minutes until the pastry is well puffed and browned. At this stage the beef should be rare. If more cooking is required lower the temperature to moderate (l80C/350F/Gas mark 4) and cook for a further 15 minutes for medium to well done.