Beef Wellington With Chestnut Stuffing & Roasted Cranberries Recipe on Food52 (2024)

Created to honor the first Duke of Wellington in the nineteenth century, the classic Beef Wellington features beef wrapped in pastry as a way to seal in the meat’s juices as it cooks. This technique mirrors the French filet de boeuf en croute, which was perhaps the inspiration (or original name) for this dish. My version uses even more beef—Texas beef tenderloin, bresaola, and beef tallow—so that every bite has a bit of beef fat, cured beef, and beef tenderloin cooked to a perfect medium-rare. I dressed this up for a party and included festive flavors like chestnuts and cranberries to make it suitable for any holiday table.

A few components of this dish can be made ahead, which I recommend if you’d like to cut down on cooking time the day of your gathering. The beef broth reduction can be made up to one week ahead and stored in the fridge, just make sure it stays covered and chilled. You can form the Wellington the day before you plan to cook it and cover and refrigerate it until it’s time to bake. —Rick Martinez

Per USDA food safety policy, your beef should be cooked to a final internal temperature of 145°. The meat should rest for three minutes after coming out of the oven. For recommended internal cooking temperatures, check out the Beef Loving Texans guide to determining doneness.

This recipe is shared in partnership with Beef Loving Texans. —The Editors

Directions

1. For the mushroom stuffing: Add chestnuts, shallots, celery, and garlic to a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Transfer to a large bowl. Add mushrooms to the food processor (don’t bother to clean it) and pulse until mushrooms are pea-sized. Transfer to a bowl along with chestnut mixture, salt, and pepper; stir to combine.
2. Melt beef tallow in a large heavy skillet, preferably cast iron, over medium-high heat. Add mushroom mixture, thyme, and bay leaves and stir to combine. Cook mushroom stuffing, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has evaporated and mushrooms are beginning to brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste, remove bay leaves, and set aside to cool.
3. Transfer to an airtight container and chill for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours.
4. For bone broth reduction: Heat beef tallow in a large skillet over medium high and add shallots, garlic, thyme, bay leaves, and peppercorns and cook, tossing occasionally until just beginning to brown, about 4 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and carefully add bourbon and return to heat and tilt skillet toward flame to ignite. Cook until flames have died and almost all of the liquid has evaporated. Add bone broth and cook, stirring occasionally until reduced by half, about 45 minutes. Strain, discard solids, and keep warm until ready to serve.
6. For the beef: Season the tenderloin with salt and pepper. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour and up to 24.
7. Once beef is chilled, heat beef tallow in a large skillet over high until very hot and you can see wisps of smoke. Cook tenderloin, turning every 30 to 60 seconds, until all sides and the ends are browned, about 4 minutes. Transfer meat to a platter and brush all sides with Dijon mustard. Let rest for 30 minutes.
8. On a clean work surface, overlap long sheets (about 18- by 15-inch) of plastic wrap. Place crepes on top to make about a 14- by 7-inch rectangle, arranging them in an even layer and overlapping the pieces slightly so that they are large enough to cover the tenderloin. Shingle bresaola over the crepes. Spread reserved chilled mushroom mixture over bresaola in an even layer, pressing down to ensure the layer is even. Sprinkle apricots over top.
9. Place reserved chilled beef along one long end of the mushroom covered crepes, and roll tightly around the tenderloin using the plastic to help you, but peeling it back as you roll. Wrap the whole thing tightly using the same plastic wrap, twisting both ends like a candy wrapper. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight.
10. Meanwhile, arrange a rack in the center of the oven; heat oven to 425°F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. In a small bowl, whisk together egg and 1 teaspoon water. Roll out about 1 pound of the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface with a long side closest to you to a 15- by 14-inch rectangle. Lay puff pastry out on a piece of parchment paper. Brush egg over pastry to create a rectangle that is about as wide as your piece of meat, leaving a border of approximately 1 inch along the edges of the pastry.
11. Carefully unwrap and place chilled beef log along the edge of one long side of puff pastry. Roll beef up tightly, then place it seam-side down on the prepared baking sheet. Tuck puff pastry over the ends of the beef to cover them, pinching to seal and folding underneath. If you plan to add a lattice, place the Wellington in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes.
12. Make the lattice: Remove the Wellington from freezer and brush top and sides of pastry with egg. Roll a lattice cutter across the remaining puff pastry. Gently place over the top of the egg-washed surface of the beef Wellington and arrange the sides to open up the lattice across the top and sides. Gently press to adhere and brush with egg. Top with flakey sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper. Place the latticed Wellington back in the freezer for an additional 10 to 15 minutes.
13. Remove latticed Wellington from freezer. Bake beef Wellington until pastry is golden brown all over and the meat is cooked to your desired doneness keeping in mind that the temperature will climb about 10 degrees as beef Wellington rests (I like mine medium-rare), about 40 to 50 minutes total.
14. About 30 minutes into cooking, check the pastry—if it’s already golden brown, you’ll need to tent it with foil to avoid further browning. Once cooked, transfer to a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet and let rest for 20 minutes, but leave the oven on.
15. For the roasted cranberries: While Wellington rests, arrange a rack in the center of the oven and 425°F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Toss the cranberries with the sugar, wine, olive oil, rosemary, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Scrape onto a prepared sheet tray, then bake until bubbling, about 20 to 30 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes and serve.
16. Slice beef Wellington into 1-inch thick pieces. Serve with bone broth reduction and roasted cranberries.

Recipe by: Rick Martinez