Oleksii Povtoreiko · Kyiv, Ukraine

Beef Wellington

Time2 h
LevelHard
Meat and game
Beef Wellington

Beef Wellington is the epitome of elegance in classic cuisine, featuring a perfectly cooked beef tenderloin wrapped in a delicate layer of mushroom duxelles, encased in buttery, golden puff pastry. This dish requires precision and patience, making it a true test of a chef’s skill.

Ideal for special occasions or holiday feasts, Beef Wellington offers a rich, savory experience with every bite. The combination of tender beef, umami-packed mushrooms, and crisp pastry creates a masterpiece that’s best enjoyed in colder months, paired with a robust red wine and roasted vegetables. A showstopping centerpiece for any dinner table!

Adapted for a home kitchen by our editors from Oleksii Povtoreiko's restaurant recipe. The chef cooks each fillet sous vide at 56°C (133°F) for two and a half hours before wrapping it in mushrooms and yeasted puff pastry. At home the water bath goes: the steaks are seared, chilled, coated in a porcini duxelles and baked in store-bought puff pastry until a thermometer shows medium-rare. The individual portions, the mixed mushrooms and the pepper sauce stay as in the restaurant. Not yet tested from this page.
Method
  1. Take the steaks out of the fridge 20 minutes before searing and pat them dry with paper towels.
  2. Season the steaks all over with salt and pepper.
  3. Heat the oil in the heavy skillet over high heat until it shimmers.
  4. Sear the steaks for 1 minute on each flat side and about 30 seconds on the edges, until deep brown all over.
  5. Move the steaks to a plate and refrigerate them, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Set the skillet aside unwashed for the sauce.
  6. Lift the porcini out of their soaking water, keeping the water, and chop them finely.
  7. Chop the cremini very finely by hand, or pulse them in a food processor to a coarse paste.
  8. Melt the 20 g butter for the duxelles in the second pan over medium heat and cook the shallot and garlic for 2 minutes, until soft.
  9. Add the cremini, porcini and thyme and cook, stirring often, for 12–15 minutes, until the pan is dry and a spoon dragged through the mixture leaves a clean line.
  10. Season the duxelles with salt and pepper, spread it on a plate and let it cool completely.
  11. Heat the oven to 220°C (425°F).
  12. Roll the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface to about 3 mm thick.
  13. Cut 4 circles of 12 cm for the bases and 4 circles of 20 cm for the lids, re-rolling the trimmings once if needed.
  14. Place the bases on the lined baking sheet.
  15. Spread a quarter of the cooled duxelles over the top and sides of each steak.
  16. Set each steak, duxelles-side up, in the middle of a pastry base.
  17. Brush the uncovered rim of each base with beaten egg.
  18. Drape a pastry lid over each steak and press it onto the base all the way round, pushing out any trapped air.
  19. Trim the joined edges to a 1 cm border and press them with a fork to seal.
  20. Refrigerate the parcels for 15 minutes.
  21. Brush the parcels all over with beaten egg and cut a small steam hole in the top of each.
  22. Bake for 20–25 minutes, until the pastry is puffed and deep golden and a thermometer pushed into the centre of the beef reads 50–52°C (122–126°F) for medium-rare.
  23. Rest the Wellingtons for 5–10 minutes; the centre will climb to about 56°C (133°F).
  24. While the beef bakes, melt the 20 g butter for the side in the cleaned second pan over high heat.
  25. Fry the mixed mushrooms in a single layer, in batches if needed, for 5–6 minutes, until browned at the edges.
  26. Season the mushrooms with salt and stir in the parsley.
  27. For the sauce, set the steak skillet over medium heat and cook the shallot and crushed peppercorns for 1 minute.
  28. Pour in the beef stock and the porcini soaking water, leaving any grit in the bottom of the bowl, and boil for about 5 minutes, until reduced by half.
  29. Add the cream and simmer for 2–3 minutes, until the sauce coats the back of a spoon.
  30. Season the sauce with salt.
  31. Serve each Wellington whole or cut in half, with the mushrooms and the pepper sauce alongside.
What we changed for home
  • Sous vide at 56°C (133°F) for 2.5 hours replaced with a quick sear and a hot oven Few home cooks own a circulator. A 180 g steak cooks in the 20–25 minutes the pastry needs, and pulling it at 50–52°C (122–126°F) lets it rest up to the chef's 56°C (133°F).
  • Yeasted puff pastry ('containing dough') replaced with store-bought all-butter puff pastry Laminated yeast dough takes most of a day; chilled or frozen puff pastry is sold in every supermarket.
  • Fresh ceps (porcini) replaced with cremini (chestnut) mushrooms plus 10 g dried porcini Fresh porcini are seasonal and rare in shops; a little dried porcini gives the duxelles the same deep flavour.
  • Pepper sauce written out as a quick peppercorn cream sauce made in the steak pan The original lists 'pepper sauce' as a ready component with no recipe.
  • Steaks chilled after searing and again after wrapping; pastry cut as a base and a lid Cold meat and cold pastry keep the butter layers from melting before baking, which avoids a soggy base. Two circles of pastry are easier to seal neatly than one folded square.
  • Ingredients the original leaves out (salt, pepper, oil, butter, shallot, egg for glazing) added The chef's list has only five components; a home cook needs the full shopping list.

The dish in the photograph was cooked by the restaurant for this story. Photo: Oleksandr Slyadnyev.

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