Beef Wellington with warm baby artichokes and a truffle vinaigrette
With juicy, pink beef coated in crisp golden pastry there are few things as inviting as a freshly baked beef Wellington. In Andy McLeish's superb Wellington recipe the beef is first coated in a mushrooms duxelle before wrapping and served alongside a warm salad of truffle and artichoke, with these rich, earthy flavours adding a whole new flavour dimension to this classic British centrepiece.
First published in 2015
discover more:
Ingredients
Metric
Imperial
- 800g of beef fillet, cleaned with sinew taken off
- 1 tbsp of olive oil
- 1 tbsp of thyme leaves, chopped
- 2 tbsp of Pommery mustard
- salt
- pepper
Mushroom mix
- 250g of button mushrooms, chopped
- 4 shallots, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 100ml of Madeira
- 4 tbsp of double cream
- butter
- salt
- pepper
Pancakes
- 150g of plain flour
- 2 eggs
- 140ml of milk
- oil
To wrap the beef fillet
- 8 large spinach leaves
- 400g of puff pastry
Egg glaze
- 1 egg yolk, beaten with 1 tbsp milk
Baby artichokes
- 14 baby globe artichokes
- 1 leek, roughly chopped
- 1 shallot, roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp of fennel seeds
- 1 sprig of thyme
- 100ml of olive oil
- 1 bulb of garlic
- 350ml of white wine
- 1l chicken stock
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- 50ml of white wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp of white peppercorns
- salt
Truffle vinaigrette
- 100ml of olive oil
- 0.5g of xanthan gum
- 2g of truffle, finely grated
SAVE RECIPE
Equipment
- Blender
Method
1
Season the beef fillet thoroughly with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large frying pan on a medium heat and, once the pan is nice and hot, add the beef, sprinkling over the chopped thyme. Sear the fillet, turning it every 1-2 minutes to ensure that all sides are coloured. Remove the beef once the outside has browned but the centre is still rare. Coat with the Pommery mustard and leave to rest in the fridge
- 800g of beef fillet, cleaned with sinew taken off
- salt
- pepper
- 1 tbsp of olive oil
- 1 tbsp of thyme leaves, chopped
- 2 tbsp of Pommery mustard
2
For the mushroom duxelle, melt the butter in the same pan, then add the chopped mushrooms and sauté until golden brown. Remove from the pan and leave to one side
- butter
- 250g of button mushrooms, chopped
3
Soften the chopped shallots and garlic in the same pan, then add the mushrooms back in and cook until the liquid evaporates. Add the Madeira, bringing it to the boil and then reduce the amount of liquid by half. Add the cream and stir until the mixture has thickened and is beginning to darken. Season with salt and pepper and leave to one side
- 4 shallots, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 100ml of Madeira
- 4 tbsp of double cream
- salt
- pepper
4
For the pancakes, make a smooth batter by whisking the milk, eggs and flour together. Heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan. When it is hot, add the right amount of batter to make a very thin layer in the bottom of the pan. Cook until golden on the underside, then flip the pancake over and cook the other side. Repeat this process until all the batter has been used and set the cooked pancakes to one side
- 140ml of milk
- 2 eggs
- 150g of plain flour
- oil
5
Quickly blanch the spinach leaves in boiling water and then add to iced water to cool. Remove the leaves and ensure that they are dried thoroughly
6
Place a sheet of cling film onto a board and lay 3 pancakes onto it. Ensure that the pancakes fully cover the cling film, overlapping where necessary. Add a single layer of spinach leaves on top of the pancakes and spread the mushroom duxelle evenly over the spinach. Lie the beef on top and wrap the pancakes, spinach and mushrooms tightly around the fillet
7
Spread the mushroom duxelle evenly over the spinach and add the beef on top. Wrap the pancakes, spinach and mushroom mix around the venison in the cling film, making sure they are wrapped tightly and are fully sealed. Leave in the fridge to rest, overnight if possible
8
Roll out the puff pastry into a thin sheet about 1/4 cm thick – it will need to be rolled thinner if the pastry is pre- rolled
- 400g of puff pastry
9
Remove the wrapped beef from the fridge, take out of the cling film and place on top of the pastry. Brush the edges of the pastry with the egg wash, roll up and seal. Leave to one side while you prepare the vegetables
- 1 egg yolk, beaten with 1 tbsp milk
10
For the salad and vinaigrette, remove the coarse bottom leaves from the artichokes, leaving the pale yellow leaves. With a sharp knife, cut the top two-thirds of the artichokes off so that the centre is visible. Carefully trim any outer leaves off the bases and ensure the artichokes keep their natural shape
11
Cook off the fennel seeds with a little oil in a heavy based pan. Add the leeks, shallot, garlic, white peppercorns and thyme. Sweat until opaque, then pour in the chicken stock, wine, white wine vinegar and lemon juice and bring to the boil. Then carefully add the artichokes, cover with a cartouche and bring the liquid back up to the boil
- 1 tbsp of fennel seeds
- 1 leek, roughly chopped
- 1 shallot, roughly chopped
- 1 bulb of garlic
- 1 sprig of thyme
- 100ml of olive oil
- 1l chicken stock
- 350ml of white wine
- 50ml of white wine vinegar
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- 1 tbsp of white peppercorns
12
Simmer for a few minutes, then take the pan off the heat and leave the artichokes to cool in the cooking liquor. Once cooled, take out the artichokes, then sieve the cooking liquor and reserve the strained liquid. Halve the artichokes, removing the chokes from the centre with a teaspoon
13
To make the artichoke purée, heat the cream in a pan until it begins to simmer. Stir in eight artichoke halves and warm through. Place the artichoke mixture in a blender and blitz until it forms a smooth purée, seasoning to taste. Leave to one side until required, reheating before serving
- 100ml of cream
14
Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4
15
Cook the Wellington in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Once cooked, the pastry should be golden brown and the internal temperature should be about 49-52°C. Remove the Wellington from the oven and leave to rest in a warm place for at least 10 minutes
16
While the Wellington is resting, prepare the truffle vinaigrette. Use a hand blender to combine the xanthan gum, truffle and olive oil with 100ml of the artichoke cooking liquor until it forms a coating
- 0.5g of xanthan gum
- 2g of truffle, finely grated
- 100ml of olive oil
Get in touch
Please sign in or register to send a comment to Great British Chefs.
You may also like
SITES
© Great British Chefs 2024