Beef Carpaccio is a wonderful dish to serve as a sharing plate. My favourite style of eating is creating a few small plates and putting them in the middle of the table, ready to dive in and taste all the wonderful ingredients laid out in front of me. It is why Beef Carpaccio is best served in this way so that you then only need a few slices of meat per person and can then focus on getting good quality meat. And that is the crucial part to this dish, it needs good quality meat which in this case can get a little expensive. It is however, completely worth it.
I am a big fan of Carpaccio, thinly sliced pieces of meat and fish that are served raw and made with a delicious sauce or salad. My ultimate favourite is an Octopus Carpaccio and it was one of the first things I ordered when I was in Paxos, Greece this summer. But there is always a place for Beef Carpaccio, thinly sliced pieces of good quality beef that in my opinion should always be served with a rich and tangy cream sauce. I also go very classic and add a little bit of parmesan, that goes very well with the soft bits of meat. You can also replace the mustard with some horseradish but I find that wholegrain dijon mustard pairs perfectly with the honey to give a rich and warm taste yet balances that sweetness perfectly.
This is a recipe that I bring out for those special dinners. It is perfect if you have friends round for a dinner party or simply want to create a delicious meal for two. My only requirement for this recipe is that you do buy good quality beef!
- For the beef:
- 400g beef fillet (you can also ask a butchers to thinly slice it for you but I prefer to do this alone so that I can season it beforehand properly)
- Salt/ Black Pepper
- Olive oil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- Juice of half a lemon
- For the honey mustard cream:
- 1 pot crème fraîche
- Juice of half a lemon
- 1 tbsp runny honey
- 1 tsp wholegrain dijon mustard
- To serve:
- Few thin slices of parmesan
- Fresh parsley (to garnish)
- Make sure the beef is really cold, so straight out of the fridge. Rub a few pinches of seat salt, some black pepper and the oregano onto the top of the beef.
- Thinly slice the beef. Wrap each slice in clingfilm and using a rolling pin gently flatten them out even more. Unwrap from the clingfilm, plate up, cover the plate and place back in the fridge.
- For the honey mustard cream: Mix all the ingredients into a small mix bowl until well combined. Take the meat out of the fridge and put a few spoons of the mixture over the plate. Add the parmesan and parsley on top and serve immediately or keep the plate covered in the fridge until ready to eat.
Leave a Reply