A classic Italian dish that involves minimal cooking and makes an elegant starter or lunchtime dish.
Ingredients
- 1 fillet of beef
- 100g of olive oil
- 50g of Dijon mustard
- 2 sprigs of thyme
- 1 garlic clove, sliced
- 100ml of olive oil
- 10g of pink peppercorns
- 10g of Sichuan peppercorns
- 20g of black peppercorns
- 2 tsp thyme leaves
Method
Whisk together the olive oil, Dijon mustard, thyme and garlic until combined. To make the spice rub, lightly crush together the pink sichuan and black peppercorns in a pestle and mortar with the thyme leaves and spread out on a tray
Trim the ends and all sinew away from the meat, then smother in a mixture of Dijon mustard, thyme and olive oil (or other ingredients for a different flavour) and roll in the crushed peppercorns
Tightly wrap the beef in cling film, keeping the cylindrical shape as symmetrical as possible, then place in the fridge for 15 minutes to firm up
Unwrap the beef and sear in a very hot pan wit a dash of oil, just to seal the outside.
Wrap tightly in cling film again and place in the freezer for 1 hour to make slicing easier
Remove the fillet from the freezer and slice as thinly as possible, about 2mm. Leaving the cling film on makes this easier, but make sure you remove any left on the slices
Place the slices of beef between 2 sheets of parchment paper and roll with a rolling pin to make them even thinner, then store in the fridge until ready to serve
