from Made in Italy
(Filetto Di Manzo Con Riduzione Di Vino Rosso) This is a very simple recipe that looks and sounds much fancier than it is. It’s all about a beautiful piece of meat and a flavorful basic wine reduction. For the meat: ask your butcher to cut it into slices for you, or do it yourself at home before you cook it. The wine reduction should be made in advance so it’s ready to go when the meat is done (the meat can be cooked in minutes). For the reduction, use your favorite full-bodied red wine. I like to serve this with fried fennel.
Ingredients
For the Wine Reduction:
½ cup (125 mL) chopped onions
½ cup (125 mL) chopped carrots
2 fresh bay leaves
2 fresh sage leaves
1 sprig fresh rosemary
3 cups (750 mL) red wine
1 tbsp (15 mL) unsalted butter
For the Beef:
Salt and freshly ground pepper
4 lb (2 kg) beef tenderloin – sliced to the thickness you like
3 tbsp (45 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
Directions
For the Red Wine Reduction: Put all the ingredients, except for the butter, into a saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil, then turn down to medium-high and continue to cook until the liquid thickens and you’re left with about 1 cup (250 mL). Pour through a fine mesh strainer and discard the solids. Put the wine reduction back into the pan over low heat, whisk in the butter and keep warm.
For the Beef: Salt and pepper your meat. In a heavy-bottomed frying pan on high heat, heat up your olive oil until it shimmers, just before it begins to smoke. Then sear the slices of beef tenderloin for 1 ½ minutes on each side. This will give you a nice seared outside and, if your slices are about 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick, should take it to medium rare. I’ll leave it up to you to look at the slices and decide if you want to let them cook a bit longer to suit your taste. Remove them from the pan. Gently wrap the meat in some tin foil and let it rest for a few minutes.
Pour the wine reduction into the pan in which you just cooked your meat. With a wooden spoon, over medium heat, stir for 1 minute or so to deglaze the pan, picking up those nice bits of meaty flavor that are stuck to the bottom.
Unwrap and plate the meat. Drizzle the wine reduction evenly over all the of the pieces.
Serves 4-6
Nada’s Tips & Tricks: An easy non-bbq recipe to use any time of the year. Add whatever sides you like…we’re partial to either mashed or baked potatoes and a side of sautéed mushrooms, roasted carrots, asparagus or Brussel sprouts and a Caesar salad.
Recipe from Made in Italy by David Rocco © 2011. Published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. https://www.harpercollins.ca/9781443406864/made-in-italy/