Beef Wellington for Two

Some of my blog posts contain affiliate links to products that I may receive a commission on when purchases are made through these links. This is at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog.

A local restaurant in my hometown is known for its delectable Beef Wellington. This iconic English dish consists of tenderloin wrapped in layers of dijon mustard, mushroom duxelles, prosciutto ham, and puffed pastry. Living on the farm (and currently in a pandemic) we have taken on the challenge of recreating dishes in our own kitchen that we would typically enjoy while out on a date in the city.

Beef Wellington can be made with a whole beef tenderloin or tenderloin steaks which we used for this recipe for two and served with mashed potatoes and asparagus.

Beef Wellington for Two is the perfect dish for special occasions like Valentine’s Day, Christmas, New Year’s Eve or your anniversary.

Why Beef Tenderloin?

The right cut of beef for any recipe is critical. A tenderloin roast or steaks are going to be expensive but worth every penny for this dish. Tenderloin is a boneless cut that comes from the short loin (the area between the rib and hip) and is ultra-tender with little beef flavour.

Not only is the right cut of beef important but also knowing how to cook your beef to achieve a tender, juicy piece of meat is paramount. We highly recommend every kitchen has a meat thermometer to avoid rendering your meat tough and dry. With the exception of ground-beef which we always recommend is well-done, we prefer our meat medium-rare. When prepared this way the meat will be pink in the middle and grey around the edges with no blood-red areas but still quite juicy.

Doneness

Our recommendation is slightly lower than the Food Safety Guidelines so I’ve opted to include our recommendations and theirs and leave it up to you to be absolutely safe or take a risk and eat your beef the way it was meant to be enjoyed…juicy and rare.

Cut of Tenderloin	Remove From Heat	After Resting	Food Safety Guidelines
Steaks	125oF to 130oF	130oF to 135oF	145oF
Roast	120o to 125oF	130oF to 135oF	145oF

What is Mushroom Duxelles?

Mushroom duxelles is a flavourful combination of finely chopped mushrooms, shallots, wine and herbs that is slowly cooked into a paté or paste type consistency. Most mushroom duxelles recipes that I researched called for white wine but since we had red wine open while cooking we used red instead. We also added some garlic to our mushroom duxelles.

Beef Wellington for Two

Tools You’ll Need

• Food processor
• Medium skillet
• Pastry brush
• Rolling pin
• Pastry wheel or knife
• Baker’s sheet
• Parchment paper
• Meat thermometer

Ingredients

• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
• 1 pound mushrooms (any kind)
• 1 medium shallot (or small onion)
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 (6-8 ounces) tenderloin steaks
• 1 tablespoon avocado oil*
• salt
• pepper
• 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/4 cup wine (red or white)
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
• 4-6 slices prosciutto, depending on the size of your steaks
• 1 tablespoon flour (for dusting)
• 1 egg, lightly beaten

*We use avocado oil rather than olive oil because it has a smoke point of 520^oF making it perfect for searing and sautéing.

Directions

1. Allow the pastry to thaw according to package directions before beginning to make this dish.
2. Preheat oven to 400^oF.
3. Add mushrooms, shallots and garlic to a food processor and pulse until finely diced and then set aside.
4. Using 1 tablespoon of avocado oil and salt and pepper, generously oil and season your steaks. We prefer to oil our meat rather than the pan because you will get a more even browning of the meat than if you were to simply add the oil to the pan.
5. In a medium skillet on medium-high heat, sear the steaks on all sides for about 60-90 seconds per side. You simply want to sear the steaks, not cook them.
6. Remove the steaks from the skillet and brush with dijon mustard on all sides and let rest.
7. Return the skillet to the burner and reduce heat to medium-low.
8. Add butter and mushroom duxelles to the skillet. Stir frequently and don’t allow the mixture to burn.
9. Cook for 20 minutes until the moisture has evaporated.
10. Deglaze the skillet by adding the wine and scraping up the burnt bits and mixing them in with the duxelles.
11. Cook for another 5-7 minutes until the moisture from the wine has evaporated.
12. Fold in parsley and thyme and then remove from heat.
13. Wrap your steaks with 2-3 slices each of prosciutto.
14. Dust a clean surface area with flour and roll out your thawed sheet of pastry. Typically the sheet of pastry is 10×10 inches so you can use a rolling pin to lightly roll out the pastry to about 10×14 inches. Then use a pastry wheel or knife to cut the sheet into two 7×10-inch sheets. Alternatively, you could use both 10×10 inch sheets in the box and cut each sheet down to 7×10 inches and use the scraps to decorate your beef wellington with cutout hearts, flowers, crisscrosses, or whatever fits the occasion.
15. Divide the mushroom duxelles in half and add each half to the center of the two 10×7-inch sheets of pastry. You can spread it out slightly to create a bed of the mixture that is the same size as your steaks.
16. Place one steak (now wrapped in prosciutto) onto each bed of mushroom duxelles on each sheet of pastry.
17. Bring opposite corners of each sheet of pastry together and pinch the corners to seal the pastry tightly.
18. Place each beef wellington seam side down on a baker’s sheet lined with parchment paper and add your decorative pieces of dough if that is what you planned to do. You may want to lightly wet your decorative pieces with water to help them stick.
19. Allow the wellingtons to rest in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
20. Remove from refrigerator and use a pastry brush to wash the outside of both wellingtons with the lightly beaten egg.
21. Cut 3 slits into the top of each.
22. Bake at 425^oF until the internal temperature is 125^oF.
23. Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

We recommend pairing your Beef Wellington with a Pinot Noir or Rioja Gran Reserva. The tannins in both of these wines will break through the pastry and their earthiness will pair well with the mushrooms, shallots and herbs in the mushroom duxelles.

Cheers!