By Florence Fabricant
- Total Time
- 45 minutes plus cooling for 30 minutes or longer
- Rating
- 4(87)
- Notes
- Read community notes
I’m not complaining about drinking Brunello di Montalcino, but it’s not ideal for a warm summer evening. To dress it in flip-flops, I thought of pairing it with meat served barely warm, rather than grilled. French poached boeuf à la ficelle came to mind, but who wants to simmer a vessel of stock in July? I decided to roast the meat wrapped in parchment to capture all the juices for a sauce, then serve the dish at room temperature. I had never seen a chunk of fillet cooked like that, and I worried I might sacrifice $60. Sous vide would have been an option, but it was more complicated and would take longer. My method was successful, and my sauce, made with sweet, slightly briny little olives and fresh rosemary, nicely balanced the fruity, earthy, yet still tannic wines.
Featured in: Brunello di Montalcino’s Balancing Act
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Ingredients
Yield:6 servings
- 2½pounds center-cut fillet of beef in one piece
- 3tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt and ground black pepper
- ½cup minced shallots
- ¾cup pitted niçoise olives
- 1large sprig rosemary, plus more for garnish
- ½cup dry red wine
- 1tablespoon Dijon mustard
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
575 calories; 43 grams fat; 15 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 21 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 5 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 38 grams protein; 581 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Rub meat with 1 tablespoon oil and season with salt and pepper. Wrap securely in a large sheet of parchment paper and tie like a package with butcher’s cord so it can be opened from the top. Place in a baking dish and roast 30 minutes for medium-rare. Test at 25 minutes by inserting an instant-read thermometer into the middle of the meat, right through the paper; it should register 120 degrees; at 125 degrees it will be done. Remove from the oven and transfer meat, still wrapped, to a cutting board to rest for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Step
2
While meat is roasting, heat remaining oil in a skillet. Add shallots and sauté on medium-low until soft and barely starting to color. Finely chop half the olives and add them, along with the rosemary. Stir. Add wine and cook a few minutes on medium, until starting to reduce. Stir in mustard, then add whole olives. Remove from heat.
Step
3
After meat has rested at least 30 minutes, remove string from the package and carefully open the parchment so as not to lose any of the juices inside. Lift the meat out with tongs, then pour all the juices from the parchment into the skillet with the sauce.
Simmer the sauce mixture about 5 minutes, until slightly thickened. Remove rosemary. Season with salt and pepper. Slice meat about ½-inch thick and arrange on a platter. Garnish with rosemary sprigs and serve sauce, just warm, alongside.
Ratings
4
out of 5
87
user ratings
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Cooking Notes
Genny
Made this for a small Mediterranean flavored dinner party yesterday and it was delicious. The sauce is great. Because the cooked meat surface does not have that browned crispy look I poured the sauce over the cut meat for serving. Also check the internal meat temperature after 25 minutes. Mine went from 105 degrees to 130 in 5 minutes!
Tor
I want to try this recipe on a tough shoulder roast at much lower temperature, say 140 Fahrenheit for 8 hours. Thinking sous vide in the oven
Christa
Very nice recipe and easy to make. In order to get the meat medium-rare, I'd shorten the oven time by approx. 10 minutes next time. Chimichurri would also work well with this (instead of the olive sauce).
Fred
Nice recipe for a group. I was not thrilled w the sauce. I think I'll use mushrooms next time instead of olives and separate the fat from the package juice. I used a Dacor oven on pure convection which is precisely calibrated to temperature. My meat was about 2.75 pounds and it took 45 minutes to medium rare.
Genny
Made this for a small Mediterranean flavored dinner party yesterday and it was delicious. The sauce is great. Because the cooked meat surface does not have that browned crispy look I poured the sauce over the cut meat for serving. Also check the internal meat temperature after 25 minutes. Mine went from 105 degrees to 130 in 5 minutes!
Sue Llewellyn
PS: Having now "been there, made this," just wanted to add that the recipe's spot-on, top-of-the-list perfection in every way! (Am already planning my next such indulgence--WITH a real Brunello di Montalcino instead of tonight's not-at-all-bad Barbera d'Asti--perhaps when the New York Mets win at least the playoffs!) ;-)
Sue Llewellyn
Like many of us, I do an automatic mental triage of all NYT recipes, print or online, based on "Would like to eat [delete]" or "Would like to make [save]"--criteria that usually serve me well. This one, however, so overcame my better judgment that I'll be halving--and having--it next week (haven't even thought of boeuf à la ficelle in eons).
The only flip-flops involved will be those on my feet--alas, my budget already went stratospheric with the fillet!
PS: Any suggestions re accompaniments?
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