Whole Roast Beef Fillet with Shallots and Mushrooms

Preparation: 20 minutes | Cooking: 60 minutes | Serves: 8

This roast beef recipe is festive and delicious – and it takes less than 30 minutes to cook. This recipe can be served as a hot meal, or you can serve it warm with salads.

Ingredients

• 1 kg beef fillet/tenderloin
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tbsp rosemary leaves
• 1 tbsp thyme leaves
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 10 eshallots, peeled
• 350 g cup mushrooms, cut into quarters
• ⅔ cup red wine
• 1 cup beef stock

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200ºC. Tie the beef with short pieces of string at 5cm intervals (or get your butcher to do so). Brush the beef lightly with oil and sear it on all sides over moderately-high heat until evenly browned.
2. Season the beef well with ground pepper and salt, brush the combined garlic, herbs and vinegar over beef.
3. Place the beef in a roasting dish. Toss the shallots around the meat, coating lightly with a little oil. Roast for 45-60 minutes for rare, 60-75 minutes for medium, or 75-90 minutes for well done. For accurate results, use a meat thermometer.
4. Ten minutes into cooking, add the mushrooms to the roasting pan.
5. Remove beef, cover it loosely with foil andlet is rest for 10 minutes before slicing it against the grain.
6. While the beef is resting, place the roasting pan with the shallots and mushrooms on the cooktop. Heat and add the wine, stirring any bits off the bottom. Simmer until reduced by half then add the beef stock and simmer until reduced by half again. Add any meat juices to the sauce and serve the beef in thick slices with the warmed sauce.

Tips

• Eye fillet has a thin membrane (called silverskin) you will need to remove before cooking if your butcher hasn’t done so. Use a sharp knife to carefully remove all the membrane. If left on, the membrane will shrink during cooking and cause the fillet to curl up.
• For even cooking and attractive presentation, the meat joint should be tied (or ‘trussed) before cooking. Find out how to tie roast beef.