Indulgent Beef Wellington with honey roasted carrots, braised red cabbage and crispy roast potatoes, served with a red wine gravy

Serves: 6 (approx.)

Recipe Difficulty: Hard

Prep Time: 45-60 min

Cooking Time: 6 hr 30 min

TIP: If you are short on time, you can pre-prepare the wellington the day before (steps 1-9) and chill in the fridge for up to 24 hours before baking. 

Celebrate the holiday season by creating a culinary masterpiece: Christmas Beef Wellington. This iconic dish beautifully combines tradition and elegance, featuring a tender beef fillet  embraced by a rich mushroom duxelles, wrapped in savoury prosciutto, and encased in flaky, golden puff pastry. 

Elevate your festive table with this stunning centrepiece that embodies warmth, joy, and the delight of sharing a delectable meal with family and friends. 

The Ideal beef to use for our Christmas beef wellington recipe is our Chateaubriand Steak 

The Chateaubriand steak is extracted from the centre of the beef fillet and stands out as a premier cut due to its thickness. This portion can be prepared as is or transformed into the beloved Beef Wellington.. A Beef Wellington involves enveloping the Chateaubriand in pastry, layered with delectable fillings. The dish is gaining immense popularity and is now often chosen as an appealing Christmas alternative to the traditional turkey.

Ingredients

Beef Wellington:

1kg Chateaubriand 

3 tablespoons olive oil

250g chestnut mushrooms

50g butter

1 large sprig thyme

100ml white wine

12 slices of prosciutto 

2 packs of ready rolled puff pastry sheet (we used Jus-Rol) 

2 egg yolks beaten with 1 tsp water

Honey Roasted Carrots:

5-6 large carrots (not peeled) – Chopped into large batons

1-2  tablespoons of honey 

25g butter

Braised Red Cabbage: 

½ red cabbage (sliced thinly)

½ red onion (sliced)

Olive oil

1 tablespoon dark soy sauce 

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon garlic salt

Coarse ground black pepper 

Crispy Roast Potatoes:

5-6 large maris piper potatoes (peeled)

Olive oil

Garlic salt

Coarse ground black pepper 

Red Wine Gravy:

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 shallots (finely diced)

Thyme

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon flour

100ml red wine

1 beef stock pot

500ml water

Method

STEP 1 – Prepare the meat

• Pre-heat the oven to 220℃ / Fan 200℃ / Gas 7
• Place the beef fillet on a roasting tray, brush with olive oil and season to your liking with salt and pepper

STEP 2 – Seal the meat

• Roast in the oven for 15 minutes (medium-rare) or 20 minutes (medium).
• Remove from the oven to cool, then place in the fridge to chill for approximately 20 minutes.

STEP 3 – Prepare the mushrooms

• While the beef is cooling, finely dice the mushrooms so that they are similar in size to coarse breadcrumbs. We used a mini chopper. If you use a food processor to chop, make sure that you use a pulse-chop so that they don’t become a slurry.
• Heat 2 tbsp of oil and 50g of butter in a large frying pan and add the mushrooms with the large sprig of thyme. 
• Fry on a medium heat for 10 mins to soften.
• Season the mushroom mixture and add the wine. 
• Continue to cook for another 10-15 minutes until all the wine has been absorbed. The mixture should hold its shape when stirred. 
• Remove the mushroom duxelle from the pan to allow it to cook and discard the thyme from the mixture.

STEP 4 – Prepare the wrap

• Lay out two pieces of cling film on top of each other on a large chopping board. 
• Lay 12 pieces of prosciutto out in a line on the cling film, slightly overlapping.
• Spread half the duxelles over the prosciutto then place the beef fillet on it.
• Spread the remaining duxelles over the top of the beef

STEP 5 – Wrap the meat into a parcel

• Use the edges of the cling film to draw the prosciutto around the meat, rolling it into a tight sausage shape. 
• Twist the ends of the cling film tighten your parcel as you wrap the meat.

STEP 6 – Chill the fillet and prepare the pastry 

• Put the fillet parcel in the fridge to chill whilst you prepare the pastry (approximately 10-20 minutes)
• Carefully roll out 1 pack of your ready rolled pastry, keeping this laid on the greaseproof paper from its packaging. 
• Prick the centre of the pastry with a fork, taking care not to pierce all the way through. This will help to ensure that you don’t get a ‘soggy bottom’.
• In a separate small bowl, beat 2 egg yolks with 1 tsp water.

STEP 7 – Wrap the fillet in pastry 

• Carefully unravel the beef fillet from the cling film and sit it in the centre of the rolled out pastry.
• Brush all around the pastry’s edges with the beaten egg yolk mixture. 
• Take the second sheet of pastry and carefully unwrap this evenly across the top of the fillet. Press well into the sides, taking care not to pierce the pastry. 
• Trim the edges of the pastry so that you have around 4cm of joints around the bottom of the fillet. 
• Seal the rim by gently pressing a fork into the pastry, all around the edge.

STEP 8 – Brush with egg yolk and finish the parcel

• Glaze all over with more egg yolk
• Carefully use the back edge of a knife to make grooves across the top of the pastry over the fillet, creating long diagonal lines. Take care not to press too firmly as you don’t want to pierce the pastry all the way through.

STEP 9 – Chill the parcel 

• Chill the parcel for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours. 

STEP 10 – Bake the wellington

• Heat the oven to 200℃ / fan 180℃/ Gas 6
• Remove the wellington from the fridge and brush again with a little more egg yolk.
• Cook until golden and crispy. We baked for 30 minutes for medium rare. For medium, bake for a further 5-10 minutes. 
• Allow to stand for 10 minutes before carving into thick slices.

STEP 11 – Prepare the sides

Whilst the Wellington is baking in the oven, cook and prepare your roast potatoes, carrots and cabbage…

Honey Roasted Carrots

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. 
• Tip the carrots, honey, butter and 150 ml water into a deep roasting tin and season well. 
• Roast in the oven for 1 hr or until tender and sticky.

Braised Red Cabbage

• Add a splash of oil to a large frying pan and fry off your red onion for 5 minutes (you can add a splash of red wine if you have some handy). 
• Add in the red cabbage. 
• Pour over the soy and balsamic, plus the garlic salt and black pepper and mix well.
• Keep mixing on a low heat for around 25-30 minutes until the cabbage is soft. (You can add more soy soy sauce and seasonings if you prefer to your own personal tastes).

Crispy Roast Potatoes

• Peel and dice potatoes into large chunks.
• Boil a pan of water and cook the potatoes for 10 minute (so they are still hard but you can push a fork through steadily)
• Drain and shake and add to a roasting tray (or air fryer) – cover will oil, black pepper and garlic salt.
• Roast in the oven on 200C/180C fan/gas 6 turning periodically or like us, cook in the air fryer on ‘roast’ for 25 minutes, shaking the trays 2-3 times throughout.

STEP 12 – Prepare the gravy 

• Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the shallots, bay leaf and thyme. 
• Cook for 5 minutes on a medium heat, stirring regularly until softened. 
• Add the flour and stir to form a paste. Cook for 1 minute. 
• Add the red wine, continuously stirring until thickened. 
• Gradually add the beef stock, one ladleful at a time, allowing the gravy to thicken.
• Once all the stock has been added, simmer for 5 minutes, stirring regularly. 
• Remove the bay leaf and pour into a gravy boat or jug.

STEP 13 – Everything is ready! Now it’s time to serve!