The Proper Way To Arrange Mushroom Duxelles For Beef Wellington

Beef Wellington is an impressive meal to pull off because it involves cooking tender beef filet and mushroom duxelles and then carefully wrapping it in puff pastry — and all of that before it goes into the oven to cook. Out of those components, the mushroom duxelles are equally as important as the beef because they give the dish layers of umami and hold the ingredients together. That's why it's essential to arrange the mushroom duxelles on the puff pastry as precisely as possible.

How should you arrange the mushroom duxelles when you're making beef Wellington? The first step is letting it cool down after it's cooked (and don't worry, we'll get into how to cook the duxelle in a bit). When you're ready to assemble, use a spatula to spread the mushroom duxelles on the puff pastry. Make sure to leave room around the edges of the pastry so you have room to place the beef and wrap the puff pastry. More importantly, spread the mixture evenly because you don't want portions of the Wellington to have thicker areas of mushrooms. This is also important because you want the perfect beef-to-mushroom ratio in every bite.

Let's get into how to make an easy mushroom duxelles, according to our beef Wellington recipe from Tasting Table recipe developer Petar Marshall. For this mixture, you'll need 2 pounds of mushrooms and two medium onions. You might be wondering what kind of mushrooms are supposed to be used in beef Wellington. It varies by recipe but baby Bella, cremini, and portobello mushrooms are common. Regarding the onions, our recipe uses yellow onions but many use shallots for a milder taste. We'll let you decide which onions and mushrooms to use.

It's important to finely chop both of these ingredients because you don't want large pieces of either in the finished product. Be patient when you're cooking the duxelles because the mushrooms need to cook for at least an hour. Why? Mushrooms are 80% to 90% water, and you want all of that to cook out to prevent soggy puff pastry. After it's cooked and cooled, it's time to assemble the Wellington as we explained before and put it in the oven for 45 minutes at 425 degrees Fahrenheit.