Gordon Ramsay Beef Wellington: the recipe
Beef Wellington is an English meat pie dating back to the 19th century. But a closer look at its main components suggest French roots: beef filet, pâté, duxelles, crêpes and puff pastry. That all sounds pretty French – and very similar to a filet de bœuf en croûte.
Many suspect its name is simply a patriotic rebranding of a popular continental dish. The Duke of Wellington had recently defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo and Anglo-Franco tensions remained high. But it’s also not a million miles from an old Irish recipe called Steig (steak) Wellington. Oh, and the Duke of Wellington was part Irish. So is it just an Irish dish dressed up in fancy French ingredients?
Regardless, the Gordon Ramsay Beef Wellington recipe ups the Englishness by coating the beef in English mustard instead of pâté to give it an extra kick. He then borrows from Italy, wrapping the beef in Parma ham, which stops the pastry from soaking up the steak’s juices. Ramsay completes a trinity of meats by enriching his duxelles – traditionally just minced mushrooms with shallots and herbs – with a creamy chicken mousse.
This recipe comfortably serves 2 people and should take no more than 1 ½ hours.
Ingredients
- 500g whole beef fillet
- 10g English mustard
- 150g square of puff pastry
- 50g egg yolk for brushing
- Vegetable oil
- Salt and pepper
For the duxelles:
- 250g button mushrooms, washed and sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 shallot, finely diced
- 10g fresh thyme, destalked and chopped
- 100ml madeira wine
- 100ml chicken stock
- 1 x 200g chicken breast
- 20ml double cream
- A pinch of parsley
For the crêpes
- 1 egg
- 125ml milk
- 50g flour
- 20g chives, chopped
- 20g butter
Stage one: prepare beef and pastry
Season the beef fillet with salt and pepper. Heat a medium sized frying pan and add a little vegetable oil. Sear the meat on all sides (tip: use the side of the pan). This should take no more than a couple of minutes.
Once seared, place the beef in the refrigerator for at least 20 to 30 minutes until completely chilled.
Roll out your puff pastry to about half a centimetre thick and put it in the fridge on a tray.
Stage two: make duxelles
Sauté the mushrooms on a high heat in some vegetable oil until well browned. It is better to do this in batches rather than crowd your pan.
In a separate pan, sweat the shallots, garlic and thyme in a little oil. Then add your caramelised mushrooms.
Add the madeira wine. Once the alcohol cooks off, pour in the chicken stock. Keep simmering until the liquid cooks out. Transfer the mushroom mixture to a tray and chill in the refrigerator.
When the mushrooms are cool enough, chop them as finely as possible and mix in the parsley.
Purée the chicken breast in a food processor while adding double cream. Mix the resulting mousse into the mushrooms and your duxelles in ready.
Stage three: make crêpes
Beat the egg in a large bowl and then mix in milk. Sieve the flour into the mixture and season with salt. Mix well and sieve into another bowl to remove any lumps. Finish the batter by mixing in your chives.
Heat a small amount of butter in a large non-stick frying pan. Once it’s melted, add a ladle-full of the crêpe batter and spread it across the pan with the bottom of your ladle.
After about 30 seconds, flip the crêpe over to finish it off on the other side (about 10 seconds). Remove from the pan and start the second crêpe.
Stage four: wrap the beef
Remove the seared beef fillet from the refrigerator and brush with mustard until completely covered.
Lay out the two crêpes so they half overlap. Spread the duxelles about half a centimetre thick over the crêpes.
Roll the crêpes around the fillet until it’s completely covered. Then wrap with cling film as tightly as possible. (The aim is to create a thick, even sausage shape.) Put the wrapped beef back in the refrigerator for at least 10 minutes.
Remove the puff pastry and brush with the beaten egg yolk. Take the wrapped beef from the refrigerator, remove the cling film, and place it in the centre of the pastry. Wrap the pastry around it so that it’s completely covered. Make sure it’s as tight as possible, trimming off any excess pastry.
Stage five: cook and serve
Line a tray with baking paper and place the Beef Wellington on top. If you want to score a pattern in the pastry at this point, be sure not to cut through it. Glaze the Wellington with egg yolk and cook in a preheated oven at 210°C for about 20 to 25 minutes.
Let it cool for 10 minutes before carving. Ramsay recommends serving with crispy potatoes, roasted garlic, spring greens, and gravy.
More famous recipes by Gordon Ramsay
For more top Gordon Ramsay recipes, we’ve got 8 of his best videos right here, including tips for the perfect slow-roasted pork belly (crackling included) and buttermilk fried chicken. He also demonstrates how to improvise a delicious marinara sauce in this round-up of home-cooking tips from Michelin-star chefs.
