Beef wellington canapé recipe

The bite-size beef wellington canapés are the perfect way to impress your guests, but they're secretly really easy to make.

Canapés can be seriously fiddly, but the the brilliant thing about this recipe is it's actually easier to create these minis than it is to make a full-size wellington. Plus there are loads of cheats to save you even more time and effort if you prefer. We've made our own pastry cups, but you can buy vol-au-vent cases ready made if you prefer. The recipe also uses a classic mushroom duxelle but for ease, you can just add a couple of slices of fried mushroom to the bottom of the pastry before adding the beef on top.

Ingredients

• 500g pack puff pastry
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 150g chestnut mushrooms, finely chopped
• Small bunch of thyme, leaves picked
• 4tbsp sherry or white wine
• 150g beef fillet, cubed
• Horseradish sauce or mustard

You will need:

• a 6cm fluted cutter and a 4cm round cutter

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/Gas 6. Roll out the puff pastry to the thickness of a 50 pence piece. Cut out 12-15 circles using the fluted cutter.
2. Take one pastry circle and score a smaller circle using the round cutter. Repeat with all the circles and bake them in the oven for 15 mins until golden brown and crisp. Remove from the oven and poke in the centres with the handle end of a spoon before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
3. Meanwhile, for the mushroom duxelles, heat 1 tsp of oil in a large frying pan and gently fry the shallots, mushrooms and thyme for 10 mins until softened. Pour in the sherry or wine and cook until the liquid has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan over a high heat. Fry the cubes of beef until browned on all sides, around 1-2 mins in total. Be sure not to overcook as they should be pink in the middle. Set aside.
5. Spoon the mushroom mixture equally into the pastry cases and place a cube of beef on top of each one. Serve on a platter with a small dollop of horseradish or English mustard on the side for spooning on.

Top tip for making these beef wellington canapés

Make a veggie version using a cube of sweet potato or butternut squash instead of the beef.

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• Vegetarian Wellington (opens in new tab)