Beef Wellington with Shiitake Marsala Wine Sauce

This is a re-post of a recipe I first made and published in 2009.  It's been updated to include a delicious Shiitake Marsala Wine Sauce that I made last evening.

The Duke of Wellington, who won the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, was quite indifferent to food, so much so that his cooks often gave notice and quit. In spite of this, his name has been inexplicably given to a filet of beef, coated in Duxelles and wrapped with prosciutto, and then encased in puff pasty. This dish became popular in the 1960s and it was a favorite menu item for state dinners in the Nixon administration.

Regardless of the origin of the name or the folklore since, this is a fine holiday or celebration dinner dish. It's totally elegant, but not as difficult to prepare as you might think. Duxelles is nothing more than a fancy French cooking term for a blend of sauteed mushrooms, shallots and seasonings until it collapses and makes a paste.

It seems that a Madeira Wine Sauce is generally the preferred accompaniment to Beef Wellington.  Madeira wine is Portuguese, but the sauce is decidedly French.  I preferred to make a non-traditional Marsala Wine Sauce.  Marsala wine is Italian as is the origination of its sauce and famous for the dish, Chicken Marsala.  Both Madeira and Marsala wines are similar in that they are sweet, fruity and fortified with brandy.  Both sauces are similar in that they use shallots and mushrooms however, neither use the Shiitake variety.

Ingredients
For the Beef
2 pound beef tenderloin, trimmed (strongly recommend USDA Prime)
2-3 tbsp olive oil
2-3 tbsp Dijon mustard (like, Grey Poupon)
8 oz Prosciutto, thinly sliced
1-1/2 cups Duxelles (recipe follows)
2 sheets puff pastry dough (like, Pepperidge Farm)
1 egg, well beaten
salt & pepper
non-stick cooking spray (like, Pam)

Ingredients
For the Duxelles
1 stick butter
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp garlic, minced
2 medium shallots, finely minced
8 oz Crimini or Baby Bella mushrooms, very finely diced
3 tbsp dried parsley
6 tbsp Port wine
1 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp Kitchen Bouquet
3 tbsp beef stock (like, Kitchen Basics)
2 tbsp A-1 Steak Sauce
1 tsp ground thyme
dash paprika
salt & pepper to taste

Ingredients
For the Marsala Sauce
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
8 ounces Shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and thinly sliced
1 medium shallot, finely minced
2 tsp garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground thyme
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Marsala wine
1/4 cup Port wine
1-1/2 cups beef stock (like, Kitchen Basics)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

The Recipes
First, make the Marsala Wine Sauce:
In a saucepan that has a tight fitting lid over medium high heat, melt the butter and sauté the shallots until they collapse begin to pick up some color, about 5-7 minutes. Add the shiitake mushrooms and sauté until tender, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme and sauté another minute or so.

Sprinkle the flour over the mushrooms and stir constantly for a minute, then add the Marsala and Port wine, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan.

Add the beef stock, salt and pepper, and gently simmer the sauce for 15-20 minutes, allowing it to reduce slightly. Stir frequently.

Cap the saucepan with the lid and set the stove to its lowest setting.  Allow the sauce to sit for an hour or more before serving.

Next, make the Duxelles:

Put 1/2 stick of butter and 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat and bring to a shimmer. Sauté the shallots until beginning to caramelize, about five minutes.. Add the second 1/2 stick of butter to the pan, then add and sauté the mushrooms until collapsed.  Add the garlic, and turn the heat to medium low. Stir frequently, bring all the ingredients to a browned, caramelized state, about thirty minutes.

De-glaze the pan with the Port wine scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan.  Add the lemon juice, Kitchen Bouquet, beef stock and A-1 Sauces, then add the thyme, parsley, paprika, salt and pepper. Increase the heat to medium and stirring frequently, simmer the liquid away until you have a thick, chunky, pasty concoction, about another thirty minutes.

Next, prepare the roast:
In a skillet large enough to hold the roast, heat the olive until shimmering on high heat and sear the roast, turning 1/8 turns and cooking for two minutes on each side. Remove from the heat and drain on paper towels while allowing it to cool for twenty minutes. Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees.

Coat the top half of the roast in Dijon mustard and season with salt and pepper. Next, spread the Duxelles over the top of the entire roast and then wrap the slices of Prosciutto over the top half of the roast, allowing each slice to slightly overlap the other. Finally, wrap the whole roast in the sheets of puff pastry, being sure the meat is entirely encased.  Try not to overlap the pastry sheets. Simply cut off the portions of puff pastry that are too large for the roast and pinch the remaining sheets of dough together on the sides and bottom of the loaf.

Use a pasty brush to slather the egg wash over the top of the loaf. Using a sharp knife, make four or five diagonal incisions in the top of the loaf, but not cutting all the way through the dough. As the roast cooks, these incisions will open up and contrast against the golden brownness of the dough slathered in the egg wash, giving the roast a finished, professional look.

Spray a roasting pan with the non-stick cooking spray before placing the loaf in the middle of the pan, and then place the sheet pan in the middle of a pre-heated 425 degree oven for 30 - 40 minutes, but use a meat thermometer to roast the loaf to a temperature of 125 degrees.

Loosely cover the Wellington with aluminum foil for 10-15 minutes while carry-over heat will raise the roast's temperature to 135 degrees, which will be a perfect medium rare. Use a very sharp knife to carve the roast into one-inch slices. Serve the Marsala Wine Sauce at the table and allow guests to help themselves to their liking. This dish goes very well accompanied by fresh asparagus topped with Sauce Hollandaise.