Beef tagliata

This utilises the flavours that you find in beef carpaccio, but with seared beef, sliced a little thicker. It is particularly important here to use a good quality piece of beef fillet, otherwise the meat may be tough. We used Argentinian beef, which made me feel a little guilty due to the food miles, but it was extremely tasty.

Serves 4 as a starter

400g beef fillet, in one piece

200g rucola

50g parmesan

1 lemon

extra virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Heat a little oil in a large frying pan and sear the beef on all sides until lightly browned. Put it in a roasting tin and roast for no longer than five minutes (you can do it for longer if you like your meat well-done, but I personally find that to be a complete waste of a good piece of meat).

Divide the rucola between four plates, cut the lemon into 4 wedges and place on the sides of the plates.

Remove the beef from the oven, allow it to rest for ten minutes, then slice as thinly as you can, laying each slice on top of the rucola. It will probably be quite cool by this time, but don't worry, it is fine to serve it at room temperature.

Drizzle with olive oil, season generously with fresh black pepper and coarsely grate or shave the parmesan over the beef. Serve immediately.