Beef Wellington Level 1: The Doughboy

Ingredients

• 200 g Shallot
• 600 g Cremini mushrooms
• 10 g Cloves garlic
• 100 g Butter
• 750 g Beef tenderloin center cut, approximately 6 in long
• Salt, to season the tenderloin, as needed
• Pepper, to season the tenderloin, as needed
• 10 g Thyme
• 2 Store-bought pastry dough, we like Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
• 4 piece Prosciutto
• 1 Eggs, for egg wash

Method

1. Prep the mushroom duxelles: Quarter the shallots and halve the mushrooms and garlic cloves. Put everything in a food processor. Run on high until it forms a uniform paste. Set aside.
2. Prep and sear the tenderloin: Trim the fat and cut the tenderloin down to size. Season with salt and pepper. Preheat a neutral oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the loin until dark.
3. Cook the tenderloin with Joule: Preheat Joule to your desired temperature. Use the Perfect-Every-Time Center-Cut Tenderloin Roast as a guide. For this recipe, we recommend 131°F / 55°C for 90 minutes.
4. Cook the mushroom duxelles: While your tenderloin is going, cook the mushroom paste over medium heat in a heavy-bottomed pot. Stir constantly, scraping the fond from the bottom of the pot, until the mixture loses almost all of its moisture and becomes thick and reduced. This takes about an hour. Finely chop the thyme. At the end of cooking, add the thyme to the mixture. You can make the duxelles up to five days in advance. Store in an airtight container in the fridge until you're ready to use.
5. Get ready to wrap: Lay out a large sheet of plastic wrap on your workstation. On top of that, lay out one can of the Pillsbury Crescent Roll dough as a single, intact sheet. Working lengthwise, lay the four prosciutto slices on top of the dough sheet. Using an offset spatula, carefully spread the duxelles over the prosciutto in a thin, even layer, about 3 millimeters thick.
6. Wrap and roll: Place the cooked tenderloin at the bottom edge of the layered wrapper. Make sure it's centered. Grab the plastic wrap surrounding the bottom edge on either side of the dough sheet, keeping it pulled taut, and roll the layered dough wrap and gently roll the tenderloin forward, using the plastic wrap to make the dough, layers, and tenderloin meet the dough at the top of the roll. Gently seal the dough together through the plastic wrap.
7. Seal the roll: Tighten the roll and seal the sides by gripping the plastic wrap on each side and squeezing lightly to bring the dough around each end of the tenderloin. Option to make it really smooth: if those perforations from the crescent roll shapes are bothering you, prick along the perforations through the plastic wrap to release the air, then give the whole thing another squeeze; the dough will adhere to itself and, poof, no more perforations.
8. Gussy up that Welly: Use the other can of Pillsbury to create a pattern over your Welly. Stack half the Pillsbury Crescent Rolls dough sheet on top of the other half. Roll it out slightly to adhere the layers of dough. This will make a more pronounced pattern. You'll need a lattice pastry cutter here. Roll the lattice pastry cutter over the dough. Put the dough in the freezer for fifteen minutes — this makes it much easier to work with. Beat the egg with a splash of water and brush the assembled Welly with the egg wash. Place the lattice-cut dough sheet over the assembled Welly. The egg wash will help the dough slide smoothly around the Welly as you stretch the pattern over the surface.
9. Bake the Welly: Bake your Welly at 360°F / 182°C for about 20 minutes. Remember, everything inside is already perfectly cooked. This is just to cook the pastry dough — if you're not sure if it's done, lightly cut into the edge below the lattice to see if it's fully baked.
10. Plate and enjoy! Give yourself a pat on the back — this beef is a thing of beauty. Slice it up and serve it with Horseradish Cream and Beef Demi-Glace, if you like.