Beef Wellington, as beloved as it is in Britain, can sometimes cost a fortune – well over a £100 in certain restaurants and even shop-bought options can come in at over £50. But, with a few money-saving hacks, it’s easy to recreate at home for under a tenner.
In a YouTube challenge, Sorted Food co-founder and chef Ben Ebbrell was given a budget of just £2.50 per portion to the make the dish, which traditionally features beef fillet coated with pâté and duxelles, wrapped in puff pastry and then baked. Some recipes also include wrapping the coated meat in a crepe (pancake) or Parma ham to retain the moisture and prevent it from making the pastry soggy.
Without the budget for fillet beef, which usually starts at around £25-30, Ebbrell used beef mince mixed with herby pork sausages removed from their skins, plus a tablespoon of gravy granules to get a tasty beef flavour. To keep costs down for the duxelles pâté, he used bacon, onion, garlic, chicken livers and “wonky” mushrooms that are cheaper than the traditional varieties.
Although crepes are relatively cheap to make, to stick to the budget Ebbrell used cheap sliced white bread, which worked brilliantly to seal the meat and keep the moisture in. For the crucial buttery pastry needed for the iconic beef Wellington casing, he used ready-made puff pastry made with oil, which costs less than pastry made with butter.
The accompanying gravy jus is traditionally made with beef cheek or shin, Port, red wine and shallot onions. Instead, Ebbrell took the flavour from the fat in the sausages, lots of garlic and - the secret ingredient - added a tin of oxtail soup. He was even able to use some of the leftover ingredients to make a side dish: the bacon, carrots and cabbage were used to make a “choucroute”, and the leftover bread was toasted and served with the extra pâté.
All that for just £9.94. So if you’re stuck on ideas – and budget – for Father’s Day this weekend, you’ll want this clever recipe up your sleeve.
Ben’s budget beef Wellington
Ingredients:
For the meat filling:
500g beef mince
220g sausage meat
1 tbsp gravy granules
For the pâté:
3 tbsp oil
4 rashers smoked bacon
1 onion, peeled
5 cloves garlic, peeled
400g mushrooms
250g chicken livers
1 tbsp mustard
1 tbsp gravy granules
For “pancakes”:
1 loaf white sliced bread
To build:
1 roll puff pastry
1 tbsp mustard
For the gravy:
220g sausage meat
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 can oxtail soup
1 tbsp gravy granules
For the “choucroute”:
2 tbsp oil
4 rashers smoked bacon
3 carrots
1 white cabbage
1 tbsp mustard
Method:
For the meat filling:
Fold together the beef, sausage meat, gravy granules and a generous pinch of salt and pepper (with any herbs harvested from the allotment/garden/shop). Beat the mix well to get a homogenous beef sausage mixture. Lightly oil a double layer of cling film and tip on the mixture, form into a thick sausage shape and use the cling film to tightly wrap the sausage up. Chill in the freezer for 20 minutes.
For the pâté:
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a high heat. Chop the bacon then add it to the pan and fry it until it is golden and crisp. Meanwhile, finely dice the onion and mince the garlic. Add these to the pan along with a very generous grind of black pepper. Cook for 3-4 minutes until lightly golden.
Slice the mushrooms and then add them to the pan along with a pinch of salt and sauté until starting to soften and colour lightly. Add any herbs you’ve got.
Add in the chicken livers, mustard and gravy granules, then stir well to combine. Cook for 5-6 minutes until the pan is dry and the livers have coloured well.
Tip the entire pan into the bowl of a food processor and blitz until smooth, before tasting and adjusting the seasoning. Tip the mixture onto a large tray, spread out and cool quickly in the freezer.
For the “pancakes”:
Remove the crusts from 6 slices of bread and keep the rest to one side. Lay the bread slices over a clean work surface, overlapping their edges so that you end up with one rectangle of bread. Use a rolling pin to flatten out the rectangle fully. The bread slices should bond together slightly. Use your fingers if needed to compress the slices.
To build and cook:
Preheat the oven to 230C. Place a heavy tray in the oven.
Lay the puff pastry out on a large sheet of baking paper. Lay the bread rectangle over the pastry, ensuring there is a 2.5cm gap all the way around (you will have to trim the slices). Spread the cooled pâté over the bread into an even ½cm layer. Remove the cling film from the chilled beef mixture and place in the middle of the pâté rectangle.
Use the baking paper to lift the pastry and wrap it, and the bread and pâté, over the meat mixture to form a Wellington shape. Seal the pastry all the way round and trim off the excess. Lift the entire Wellington on the pre-heated tray in the oven and bake for 20 minutes until the pastry is golden brown all over. Reduce the heat to 180C and continue to cook for a further 25 minutes until the filling is piping hot throughout. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 15 minutes.
For the gravy:
Place a large frying pan over a high heat. Remove the sausage meat from the casing and tip into the pan. Fry, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes until crispy and golden all over.
Finely chop the garlic and then add it to the pan and cook for 30 seconds before adding the oxtail soup and gravy granules. Whisk to a simmer and then reduce the heat to low once the gravy has thickened.
For the choucroute:
Heat the oil in a large casserole pan over a high heat. Chop the bacon and fry it in the oil until crisp. Peel and shred the carrot and add it to the pan, season and continue to cook for 5 minutes.
Shred the cabbage and add it to the pan along with the mustard and a splash of water and stir well. Cover the pan and allow the cabbage to wilt. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
To serve:
Serve excess pâté with fried bread croutes and mustard as a starter.
Carve the Wellington and serve alongside the choucroute and gravy.
For more tips and tricks for cooking food on a budget, Sorted Food recently launched the Sidekick App - the first app to help home cooks making amazing meals created by chefs, while saving at least 30 per cen ton their food bills and cutting their food waste. Click here to find out more.
