Beef Wellington is a centrepiece dish, and like all centrepieces it lives or dies on its construction. Get the layers right and it eats like ceremony — pink beef, savoury mushroom, salted ham, glassy pastry. Get them wrong and it eats like a steak in a bag.
This is how we build ours, layer by layer.
The fillet
Trim and sear hard on every face. The point isn’t to cook the beef — it’s to colour the outside and dry the surface so the duxelles has something to grip onto. Then chill it. A warm fillet sweats inside the pastry and turns the whole thing soggy.
The duxelles
Mushrooms, finely chopped, cooked slowly in butter until every drop of moisture has gone. This is non-negotiable. A wet duxelles will steam the pastry from the inside.
The wrap
Lay Parma ham on cling film, spread the cooled duxelles over it, place the chilled fillet on top. Roll tight, twist the ends, refrigerate for an hour. The ham seals the meat from the pastry.
The pastry
Cold puff pastry, rolled thin enough to hug but not so thin it tears. Single egg wash. Score the top — for steam and for looks. Bake hot, fast, and rest before slicing.
Serve with truffle mash, seasonal greens, and a glossy red wine jus. There is no shortcut for any of these steps. There is only the work.
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