Beef Wellington · Gordon Ramsay

The day before: wrap each fillet tightly in a triple layer of cling film, twisting the ends like a sweet wrapper to force it into an even cylinder. Chill overnight.

💡 This is not fussiness — it is what makes the slices round instead of lopsided, and it makes every part of the fillet cook at the same rate. Skip it and the thin end is grey while the middle is raw.

Unwrap the fillets and sear them in a very hot pan with a little olive oil for 30–60 seconds per side — you want them browned all over and still raw and rare in the middle. Lift out and leave to cool completely.

💡 The pan must be smoking-hot and the time genuinely short. You are building a brown crust, not cooking the beef — the oven does that later. Warm beef will also melt the pastry, so let it cool right down.

Finely chop the 500g of wild mushrooms — as fine as you can get them, almost to a coarse crumb.

Fry the mushrooms in a hot pan with a little olive oil, the thyme leaves and seasoning. They will flood the pan with liquid; keep the heat high and cook about 10 minutes, until every drop of that moisture has gone and you are left with a dark, dry paste — the duxelles. Cool it completely.

💡 This step decides whether your Wellington succeeds or fails. Any water left in the duxelles turns to steam in the oven and the pastry base goes to soggy paste. When you drag a spoon through it, the channel should stay open and not fill with liquid.

Cut the pastry in half and roll each piece on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle big enough to wrap one fillet completely. Chill both in the fridge.

Lay a large sheet of cling film on the worktop and arrange 4 slices of Parma ham on it in a slightly overlapping square. Spread half the duxelles evenly across the ham.

Season a cooled fillet, lay it on the mushroom-covered ham, and use the cling film to roll the ham up and around the beef. Twist the ends and tie them so you get an evenly thick log. Repeat with the second fillet and chill both for at least 30 minutes.

💡 Let the cling film do the work — pull it tight and the parcel tightens itself. The Parma ham is not there for flavour alone: it is a salty seal that stops the duxelles wetting the pastry.

Brush the chilled pastry with egg wash. Unwrap the beef parcels, wrap the pastry around each one, trim away the excess, then brush the outside all over with egg wash. Cover with cling film and chill again for at least 30 minutes.

Now the sauce. Heat the 30ml olive oil in a large pan and fry the 200g beef trimmings for a few minutes over high heat until browned on every side.

Stir in the sliced shallots with the 12 peppercorns, the bay leaf and the thyme sprig, and cook about 5 minutes, stirring often, until the shallots turn golden brown.

Pour in a splash of red wine vinegar and let it bubble a few minutes until the pan is almost dry. Add the whole bottle of red wine and boil hard until it has reduced away to almost nothing — a syrupy glaze on the bottom of the pan.

💡 Reducing the wine right down before the stock goes in is the whole trick. It boils off the raw alcohol and leaves the fruit and colour behind. Add the stock too early and the sauce tastes thin and sharp.

Add the 750ml beef stock, bring back to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer gently for 1 hour, skimming the scum off the surface, until it has the consistency you want. Strain it through a fine sieve lined with muslin and check the seasoning.

Score the pastry lightly with the back of a knife, brush once more with egg wash, and bake at 200°C / gas 6 for 15–20 minutes, until the pastry is deep golden and cooked through.

💡 Score, don't cut — you are decorating the surface, not opening a hole. A cut lets steam out and juices in, and the pastry sags.

Rest for 10 minutes before carving — no less. Cut thick slices, and serve with the red wine sauce alongside.

💡 Cut it straight from the oven and the juices run out onto the board, taking the pink with them. Ten minutes lets the meat reabsorb them. Use your longest, sharpest knife and cut in one confident stroke rather than sawing.