Test Driving A New Holiday Recipe- Grate Beef Wellington

Begin by either having your butcher clean up and trim your tenderloin or by doing so yourself. The chain, head and tail along with all the silver skin need to be removed. Thoroughly season the beef tenderloin with 2 T of the olive oil, salt and pepper. Tie the tenderloin with butcher twine to help it keep its nice round shape. Season the mushrooms and onions in the same fashion.

Once the mushrooms and onions have cooled give them a rough chop and then place them into a food processor. Grind the mixture briefly- you do not want a paste but more of a ground up appearance. Get a large sauté pan or skillet hot with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Add the minced garlic and lightly brown before adding the mushroom and onion mixture. Add the fresh thyme and lower the heat to medium. Stirring pretty much constantly you want the mixture to evaporate as much moisture as possible. Depending on the moisture content of the mushrooms this step may take up to 10 minutes. Allow the mixture to completely cool.

Arrange the prosciutto on a flat surface overlapping slightly so that you have an area roughly 12” x 18”. Spread the mushroom mixture on top of the prosciutto, down the center. Remove the tenderloin from the refrigerator and cut off the butcher twine and brush the entire thing down with Dijon mustard. Place the Dijon coated tenderloin on top of the mushroom mixture. Wrap the prosciutto completely around the tenderloin so that it is completely covered. Lay out two large sheets of plastic wrap on a flat surface slightly overlapping. Place the prosciutto wrapped tenderloin on the plastic wrap and wrap the entire thing up much like you did with the prosciutto. Firmly grab the ends on the plastic wrap and roll the tenderloin up into a tight sausage of sorts. Tie the ends of the plastic wrap tightly so the tenderloin holds its nice round shape. Place into a refrigerator for at least an hour or overnight. The final steps of wrapping with the puff pastry can be done about an hour or so before you plan to eat.

For this recipe we decided to use a pellet grill for the final step in actually baking the Wellington but you can use your indoor oven or any grill if you know how it performs at low heat. Preheat your pellet grill, grill or oven to 390F. Place two pieces of the puff pastry slightly overlapping on a lightly floured surface. Using a rolling pin roll out the puff pastry to about half of its original thickness. Remove the plastic wrapped tenderloin from the refrigerator and carefully unwrap it and place on the lower half of the puff pastry. Roll the puff pastry over the entire tenderloin so that it is completely enveloped. Trim excess pastry from the ends and tuck the pastry underneath. Prepare an egg wash with the two eggs and a bit of water. Brush the uncooked Wellington with the egg wash. If you are feeling creative, you can decorate your Wellington with additional puff pastry. We did a few spiral stripes and some holly leaves and berries.

Spray a baking sheet with some cooking spray and place the Wellington onto the sheet. Place in preheated pellet grill, oven or grill. Allow to cook for about 30 minutes before checking the internal temperature with an instant read thermometer. You are shooting for a nice golden-brown crust with internal temperature of the meat around 130F. Keep in mind you will have some carry over cooking.

Slice into 1.5”-2” thick slices and serve immediately. This dish pairs well with a variety of sauces. We served it with a simple brandy- black pepper cream sauce. A red wine and mushroom sauce would also work nicely!