Thursday, January 20, 2011

Beef Wellington Recipe

FYI, you will need to get out your gram converter calculator.  I just googled the measurements :)  It was totally foreign to me!

Gordon Ramsay's beef Wellington

Gordon Ramsay's beef wellington
Gordon Ramsay says: 'This is an impressive dish and one that's easier than it looks. This beef Wellington makes a great alternative to a Sunday roast, or try it out for a romantic meal'
  • Serves: 4
  • Prep time: 20 mins
    (plus chilling time)
  • Cooking time: 50 mins
  • Total time: 1 hr 10 mins
  • Skill level: Master chef
  • Costs: Splashing out
  • Romantic

Ingredients

To keep the pastry light and crisp, we wrap the beef and mushrooms in a layer of Parma ham to shield the pastry from moisture.
Gordon Ramsay
  • 400g flat cap mushrooms, roughly chopped
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Olive oil, for cooking
  • 750g piece of prime beef fillet
  • 1-2 tbsp English mustard
  • 6-8 slices of Parma ham
  • 500g ready-made puff pastry
  • Flour, to dust
  • 2 egg yolks, beaten

Method

  1. Put the mushrooms into a food processor with some seasoning and pulse to a rough paste. Scrape the paste into a pan and cook over a high heat for about 10 mins, tossing frequently, to cook out the moisture from the mushrooms. Spread out on a plate to cool.
  2. Heat in a frying pan and add a little olive oil. Season the beef and sear in the hot pan for 30 secs only on each side. (You don't want to cook it at this stage, just colour it.) Remove the beef from the pan and leave to cool, then brush all over with the mustard.
  3. Lay a sheet of cling film on a work surface and arrange the Parma ham slices on it, in slightly overlapping rows. With a palette knife, spread the mushroom paste over the ham, then place the seared beef fillet in the middle. Keeping a tight hold of the cling film from the edge, neatly roll the Parma ham and mushrooms around the beef to form a tight barrel shape. Twit the ends of the cling film to secure. Chill for 15-20 mins to allow the beef to set and keep its shape.
  4. Roll out the puff pastry on a floured surface to a large rectangle, the thickness of a £1 coin. Remove the cling film from the beef, then lay in the centre. Brush the surrounding pastry with egg yolk. Fold the ends over, the wrap the pastry around the beef, cutting off any excess. Turn over, so the seam is underneath, and place on a baking sheet. Brush over all the pastry with egg and chill for about 15 mins to let the pastry rest. 
  5. Heat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6.
  6. Lightly score the pastry at 1cm intervals and glaze again with beaten egg yolk. Bake for 20 minutes , then lower the oven setting to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4 and cook for another 15 mins. Allow to rest for 10-15 mins before slicing and serving with the accompaniments. The beef should still be pink in the centre when you serve it.
Adapted from Gordon Ramsay's 'Sunday Lunch', published by Quadrille, available from Amazon

Nutritional information per portion

  • Calories 918(kcal)
  • Fat 54.0g
  • Saturates 23.0g
  • Sugars 2.0g
  • Salt 2.3g

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