Individual Beef Wellingtons

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Ingredients

• For mushroom duxelles:
• 8-10 oz. Baby Bella or Button Mushrooms (remove stems)
• 1 Garlic Clove
• 1 Shallot
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt (or more to taste)
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper to taste
• 1 Large Sprig Fresh Thyme
• For beef Wellington:
• 2 2-1/2" - 3" tall filet mignon (3/4 lbs.)
• 1 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
• 1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
• 1/2 pound Prosciutto
• 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
• 1 egg yolk

Details

Servings 2
Adapted from tiphero.com

Preparation

Step 1

Heat a stainless steel pan or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the vegetable oil and heat until just starting to smoke.

Pat the meat dry with paper towels, and rub the meat generously with salt and pepper.

Once the pan is very hot, sear the two filets very briefly on each side. You don’t want to cook the interior of the meat at this point, so it shouldn’t be more than a minute or two per side. Remove the filets from the pan and place on a plate in the freezer while you make the filling.

To make mushroom duxelles

Add mushrooms, shallots, and garlic to a food processor and process until completely smooth. The consistency is similar to wet hummus.

In a dry pan over medium heat, add mushroom paste. Spread the mixture evenly over the surface and cook on a medium-low heat. Add Fresh Thyme leaves. When all of the water has been fried off and the shallots are translucent (has the consistency of a spreadable pâté - about 8-10 minutes), remove from heat and spread out on a cookie sheet. Refrigerate to cool.

Remove the steaks from the freezer and brush with the Dijon mustard on both sides.

On a cutting board, lay out a long piece of plastic wrap. In the middle of the wrap, lay out Prosciutto, and slightly pepper. Spread 1/2 mushroom duxelles over the prosciutto. Place filet in the center of the duxelles, and gently (but tightly) wrap the prosciutto around the filet so that the beef is totally encased in the ham. Twist ends of cling wrap tightly (the tighter it is, the more perfect the shape.) Repeat for second Wellington. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Roll out one puff pastry piece and cut in half, so you have two rectangular strips of dough.

Lay out a clean, long piece of plastic wrap. Place one puff pastry in the center. Place the wrapped steak on one end of the puff pastry and wrap. Pinch the ends closed and trim off any excess puff pastry. Use the plastic wrap to tightly seal the puff pastry. Pop them back into the freezer until the oven is preheated.

Preheat the oven to 425°.

Place a sheet of parchment paper or aluminum foil on a baking sheet. Remove Wellington from freezer, remove the plastic wrap, and lay the Wellington seam-side down on the baking sheet. Baste the top of the puff pastry with the egg yolk , salt, and mark with back of knife. Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until the internal temperature of the steak reaches 125º F, or to whatever temperature you prefer your steak.

Remove from oven, and let rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing into medallions. Serve warm.



You can make this recipe ahead of time by following it up to step 9, then freezing until ready to bake. When you’re ready to cook, just put it in the oven directly from the freezer without thawing, and cook until the interior temperature of the meat is 135 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit (for medium rare), which may take longer than the 25 minutes.