Nothing says special occasion quite like a beef Wellington and the combination of parma ham, porcini paste and garlic spinach makes this recipe worth the extra effort.
As Christmas recipes go, beef Wellington requires some love and attention, but you will be rewarded with a succulent piece of beef that's encased in a flavoursome medley of porcini mushroom, truffle and parma ham.
Wrapped in puff pastry and topped with festive stars, this wellington gets served with a rich port gravy and is the perfect centrepiece to serve to your Christmas or New Year's Eve guests. Serve with braised red cabbage and potato dauphinoise for a dinner to remember.
porcini & truffle paste, we used Waitrose Cooks’ Ingredients
Plain flour, to dust
500g
block puff pastry
1
medium egg, beaten
Poppy seeds, optional, to decorate
For the port gravy
1tsp.
olive oil
75g
pancetta lardons
1
echalion shallot, finely chopped
3Tbsp.
plain flour
200ml
ruby port
500ml
beef stock
1Tbsp.
redcurrant jelly
Directions
Step 1For the wellington, pat fillet dry with kitchen paper. Heat oil in a large frying pan over high heat and fry beef for 8-10min, turning regularly, until browned all over (including ends). Cool on wire rack set over a baking tray.
Step 2Melt butter in the same pan, add garlic and cook 30sec. Add half the spinach; season with salt, pepper and nutmeg; cook until slightly wilted. Add remaining spinach and cook, stirring, until completely wilted. Drain in a colander in the sink. When cool enough to handle squeeze out all excess moisture with your hands, then dry thoroughly on kitchen paper.
Step 3Lay 2 large overlapping sheets of clingfilm on a work surface. Arrange slices of Parma ham slightly overlapping in the centre, in a rectangle large enough to completely cover the beef (including ends). Top with spinach, leaving a 2.5cm (1in) border. Brush fillet with porcini paste and place in the centre of the spinach. Using the clingfilm to help, wrap ham and spinach around the fillet, then roll up into a clingfilm-wrapped log, twisting ends tightly to secure. Chill for at least 30min (up to 6hr).
Step 4Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Lightly flour a work surface and roll out pastry to a rectangle large enough to completely enclose the beef. Cut a 2.5cm (1in) strip from one edge and set aside. Reroll pastry sheet to its original size and brush all over with egg. Unwrap beef and place in centre of pastry. Fold the short edges of pastry in, then wrap up. Put seam-side down on prepared tray, brush all over with egg. Stamp or cut out small stars from reserved pastry, stick on top and glaze with egg. Chill for at least 30min (up to 24hr).
Step 5Preheat oven to 220°C (200°C fan) mark 7. Heat a sturdy baking tray in oven for 10min. Brush wellington all over with more beaten egg and sprinkle with poppy seeds, if using. Lift on to preheated baking sheet (still on its parchment). Cook for 10min. Reduce oven temperature to 200°C (180°C fan) mark 6 and cook 35-40min (for medium), until pastry is a deep golden brown (if you have a meat thermometer, it should read 60°C when inserted into centre of the fillet).
Step 6Meanwhile make the gravy. Heat oil, pancetta and shallot in a pan over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until pancetta is golden and shallots are tender. Stir in flour and cook for 1min. Gradually add port, whisking to avoid lumps, then whisk in stock. Increase heat to high and bubble vigorously for 5min until thickened. Whisk in jelly and check seasoning. Set aside.
Step 7Remove wellington from oven and leave to rest for 10min. Transfer to a serving plate or board and serve with the gravy, reheated if needed.
Get ahead
Prepare to end of step 4 up to a day ahead; loosely cover with foil and chill. Make gravy up to a day ahead; cool, cover and chill. Complete recipe to serve, reheating gravy in a pan.
GH Tip
If you can’t find porcini paste, use Dijon mustard.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
