Mini Beef Wellingtons Recipe

How to Make Mini Beef Wellingtons

Method

  1. Place a frying pan over a high heat. Dry the steaks well with kitchen paper. Rub with oil and season well. Pan fry quickly on all sides until nicely coloured. Set aside to cool.
  2. Place a frying pan over a medium high heat and add the butter and 2 teaspoon olive oil. Add the chopped mushrooms along with the thyme, salt and pepper. Stir well and cook for 5 minutes or until all of the moisture is absorbed and you’re left with a dry, concentrated mix. Set aside to cool, then refrigerate until needed.

  3. For the pastry bases, first measure the width of each steak. Using a plate as a guide, cut out 4 x pastry circles, each approximately 4cm wider than the steaks. Place in a single layer on a flat board or tray and refrigerate until needed.

  4. For the pastry tops, cut another 4 circles, each about 5cm wider than the pastry base circles. Eg: for a 12cm wide steak, your bottom circle would measure 16cm and the top would be 21cm. Using a knife, gently score the 4 larger circles into a pattern of your choice. Do not cut through the pastry, you only need a light score. Place in a single layer on a flat board or tray and refrigerate until needed.
  5. When ready to assemble, remove the jelly from the pate and discard. Cut the pate into 8 slices and set aside. Place the 4 smaller circles of puff pastry onto a large baking sheet lined with baking paper, spacing them well apart.
  6. Lay a flat piece of proscuitto onto each circle. They may be longer than the circles. Spoon approximately 1/8 of the mushrooms onto the proscuitto in the middle of each pastry, covering an area about the size of the beef.
  7. Place the beef on top and add 2 slices of pate to each one. Cover with the remaining mushrooms, pushing down a little to compact them. Lift up the proscuitto sides up so you have little parcels. Note, the proscuitto won’t go all the way up to the top.
  8. Place the larger (scored) pastry circles on top of the bases, gently pushing down to create neat little parcels. Squeeze the pastry borders together to seal them, then trim off any excess. Neatly crimp the bases and refrigerate for at least an hour.
  9. Preheat oven to 210°C (or 190°C for fan forced ovens). Whisk the egg yolk and milk together and brush it over the Wellingtons. Top with salt and pepper. Bake for 20 minutes for medium rare (see Tips). Remove from the oven and rest for 10 minutes.  Top with a few fresh thyme leaves and serve with sauteed spinach.

Cooking Guide: For medium rare steak, a thermometer should read 54-57c in the centre. If you prefer your meat more cooked, simply cook for a few more minutes.

Tip: Aim for steaks of an even length and width, ideally around 160-180g each.  It’s important to cook the Wellingtons from cold, so you don’t overcook the meat.

Optional: To save time, you can pulse the mushrooms in a food processor until finely chopped. You can re-roll the puff pastry offcuts for use in another recipe.