Christmas Beef Wellington
- 90 Minutes
- Easy
- Beef
Beef wellington is a staple of British cuisine with many people enjoying a classic beef wellington for Christmas dinner. The textures and flavours of this dish are unlike anything else from the beautiful melt in your mouth beef to the buttery, flaky pastry that encases it. If you’re wanting to broaden your Christmas food horizons away from turkey, this beef wellington recipe is sure to be a hit with the whole family.
Cooking Method
- Season your fillet with salt and pepper ready for searing. Heat up a pan and add a splash of olive oil, then put the beef in and fry until nicely coloured.
- Take the beef out of the pan and place on a plate, brushing with English mustard. Leave the beef to rest and start preparing the filling. Add your mushrooms to your blender with the chopped garlic clove. Season with salt and pepper and blend. Add the chestnuts and blend again.
- When the mixture is blended together, cook it in a hot dry pan and add the fresh thyme. Once all the water is dried, take the filling out the pan and leave it to cool. Now you can start assembling the wellington.
- Place kitchen film over your chopping board and lay out the 8 slices of ham on top, sprinkling a hint of pepper. Spread your mushroom filling over the ham ensuring it’s thin and even.
- Lay the beef on top and carefully fold it over, pushing and rolling to make sure it’s tight. The tighter you can get it the better the shape. Put the beef in the fridge for 15 mins to firm up.
- Put more kitchen film on the chopping board with the puff pastry on top. Place your beef in the middle and very carefully roll the puff pastry over the beef until the edges meet. Trim off excess pastry and twist the ends together to check the beef is fully sealed within the pastry.
- Brush the pastry with egg yolk to give it a golden-brown colour when it bakes and sprinkle some salt over to help it become nice and crispy.
- Bake in the oven at 200 degrees for roughly 35 mins. Once cooked, leave it to rest for 10 mins before serving with your choice of sides.
The Ingredients
- 1kg beef fillet
- 30g of English mustard
- 700g of chestnut mushrooms
- 100g of chestnuts
- 10g of fresh thyme
- 8 slices of Parma ham
- 1 chopped clove of garlic
- 1 sheet of puff pastry
- 1 egg
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper
What to serve with slow cooked beef chilli
The best sides for a Christmas beef wellington are the ones that are tasty enough to enhance the main but don’t steal show from the iconic wellington, and of course reflect Christmas. We think the below side dishes are perfect for this recipe:
- Roasted brussel sprouts
- Roasted root vegetables
- Garlic roasted potatoes
- Red wine jus
