Beef fillet steaks are a serious treat, it doesn’t happen often in my kitchen, but when I do get my hands on some soft buttery fillet steaks I want them rare on the inside, charred on the outside, ridiculously tender and made all the more tasty with a little bit of super piquant salsa verde sauce.
I know you’re hesitating as you scan the ingredients for the salsa verde and wondering if you should ruin your expensive steak with some strongly flavoured anchovy and capers – ignore that hesitation and do it! It’s so hard to describe how good a little salsa verde sauce makes this steak; it literally takes the deep beefy savouriness of the steak to another level.
Miraculous ingredients: fillet steak (organic and/or grass fed), fresh parsley, non pareille capers, very good quality anchovy fillets
Beef fillet steaks with salsa verde
Ingredients
Beef fillet steaks per person
2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Coarse sea salt and black pepper to season
Salsa verde
25g fresh parsley, stalks removed
2 tablespoons non pareille capers (Waitrose Cooks' Ingredients non pareille capers)
½ garlic clove
4 anchovy fillets
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon red wine vinegar
7 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
METHOD
Place all the ingredients for the salsa verde in a mini chopper/food processor and blitz until fairly smooth.
For the steak, heat a dry cast iron or stainless steel frying pan on a high heat for 10 minutes. Smear each steak with oil on each side and season with salt and pepper. When the pan is very hot add ½ tablespoon of oil to the pan and quickly add the steaks. Fry for 2 minutes on each side for medium rare. Do not move the steaks in the pan as soon as you put them in otherwise they will stick, let them form a crust first and then you’ll be able to turn them over when they are brown.
Once the steak is cooked to your liking, remove from the pan onto a warm plate, and cover with foil and a couple of tea towels to keep warm. Leave to rest for 10 minutes. Serve with a little of the salsa verde sauce.
Preparation time 10 minutes, cooking 5 minutes, resting 10 minutes, 2 adult portions, 2 child portions