Classic Beef Wellington

By molpel

Ingredients

• 1 pound mushrooms sliced
• 1/2 cup butter plus
• 2 tablespoons butter softened
• 4 pounds beef tenderloin fat trimmed
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 1/2 cup diced carrot
• 1 bay leaf broken
• 1 cup pate de foie gras with truffles
• 1 package frozen puff pastry - (17.3 oz) thawed
• Flour for rolling
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon water

Details

Servings 8

Preparation

Step 1

Saute mushrooms in 2 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat until softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Set aside.

Spread beef with 1/2 cup butter. Combine salt, pepper and rosemary and spread over meat. Place in shallow roasting pan and pile diced celery and carrot on top. Add bay leaf. Roast at 400 degrees 20 minutes. Scrape off vegetables and cool meat on wire rack.

Chop mushrooms very fine and mix with pate. Spread mixture 1/2-inch thick over top of cooled tenderloin. Dip spatula in water and use to smooth surface.

Lay puff pastry on floured board (2 sheets), pressing edges together to make 1 sheet. Roll out pastry into 1/4-inch-thick rectangle large enough to wrap around beef. Trim edges straight with sharp knife, saving trimmings for decoration. Beat egg yolk with water and brush surface of rectangle with some of mixture.

Place beef, spread-side down, in center of pastry. Spread remaining pate mixture over top and sides to completely cover meat. Smooth with wet spatula. Wrap filet in pastry like a package, creating a double thickness of pastry on top. Set seals with egg yolk mixture.

Place on baking sheet with double thickness of pastry on bottom. Brush all exposed surfaces with egg-yolk mixture. Roll pastry trimmings into sheet about 1/4-inch thick and cut into strips of any desired shapes. Arrange on top of wrapped tenderloin to decorate. Brush decorations with egg-yolk mixture.

Bake at 450 degrees until beginning to brown, 10 to 12 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake until crust is browned and meat thermometer inserted into center of beef reaches 125 to 130 degrees for medium-rare, about 30 minutes. (If crust starts to brown too quickly, cover loosely with foil.)

Remove from oven and let stand 15 to 20 minutes, then slice and serve.

This recipe yields 8 to 10 servings.

Each of 10 servings: 609 calories; 627 mg sodium; 175 mg cholesterol; 47 grams fat; 22 grams carbohydrates; 35 grams protein; 0.46 gram fiber.