Filet Of Beef Carpaccio With Capers, Olive Oil and Pub Sauce
May 19, 2021, Updated Oct 03, 2022
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Up your appetizer ante with this make-ahead, melt-in-your-mouth, seasoned Filet of Beef Carpaccio with Capers, Olive Oil and Pub Sauce!
Beef carpaccio is simple in itself. The search for the best quality ingredients that can be found is well worth it. Carne cruda all’Albese, a Piedmontese dish, is one of the most famous of Italian antipasti.
This beef carpaccio recipe with capers is anything from boring. Begin with THE BEST CUT of beef tenderloin—quality and freshness matter with this recipe.
Sear the tenderloin evenly to a nice brown color on all sides, keeping the beef rare in the middle. Wrap tightly in aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight for the juices to redistribute and keep the entire filet fork tender. When ready to assemble, slice paper thin and arrange on a platter with Pub Sauce and chopped parsley, capers, and a drizzle of olive oil. Finish the dish with a pinch of smoked salt to counter the tangy Pub Sauce.
And…if you’re thinking the dish sounds great but you need to stretch the steak, read through my method for Steak Tartines with Red Peppers and Horseradish Cream. Along the lines of crostini appetizers, you get more mileage due to the assembly of individual pieces versus serving a platter of just the Carpaccio.
Filet Of Beef Carpaccio with Capers is an exquisite starter. It screams extravagance to see it on a platter. Super thin, melt-in-your-mouth beef tenderloin is exalted with briny capers and a light, fruity olive oil. I adorn my platter with something earthy like parsley. Baby arugula also works well. The pièce de résistance is an aioli of sorts, my delicious take on a London Pub Sauce. It’s tangy, sweet, and pairs PERFECTLY with beef.
Original Italian versions of this dish call for thin beef slices macerated in olive oil and lemon juice, adorned with arugula, freshly ground black pepper, and shavings of Parmesan cheese. I have also seen methods where Dijon mustard was whisked with lemon juice before maceration. I am au fait, having visited France and enjoyed a similar version of this dish in Béziers. However, this was more like a beef carpaccio salad and a completely raw steak dish.
Ingredients for Filet of Beef Carpaccio with Capers, Olive Oil and Pub Sauce
- beef tenderloin
- several teaspoons Kosher salt
- several teaspoons black pepper
- quality olive oil
- fresh parsley, pea shoots, or baby arugula
- capers
- batch of Pub Sauce
- toasted baguette rounds or store-bought crostini for serving
The key to success is to get the slices of beef as thin as possible. Helpful here is the method. Searing (or flash grilling) the filet briefly over HIGH HEAT ensures the juices are encapsulated and “locked in.” But cutting meat this rare while still hot would not yield the thin slices we seek.
I wrap my still-hot fillet in a heavy gauge aluminum foil sheet and tighten the sides to press out air pockets. I want the juices nowhere else to go but back into the meat. And into the refrigerator, it goes.
This next part is both good news and bad news…I won’t bother asking you which you’d rather hear first, ha! The bad news is that you must wait 24 hours to taste these most delicious and classic dishes. The excellent news…this is the ABSOLUTE EASIEST make-ahead elegant appetizer on the planet.
What is a good sauce for carpaccio?
Any aioli, homemade Caesar dressing, Tonnato, a Pub Sauce for beef, or mayonnaise and Worcestershire thinned slightly with milk. The idea is ONLY to USE the tiniest drizzle. The meat should be the profile that stands out, the capers and the sauce lending steadiness and balance.
I’d previously tasted Tonnato atop a fillet of beef carpaccio, but I also knew that tuna carpaccio sauce might throw some eaters off. So, I stuck with a simple beef carpaccio dressing that everybody would enjoy. Tonnato sauce, aioli, and a homemade Caesar dressing with freshly shaved Parmesan are great sauces for chilled food appetizers like Italian beef carpaccio. You needn’t be a chef to pull off recipes such as this. Cooking has never been such a cheating sport!
Carpaccio of beef tenderloin pairs well with almost any cocktail you serve. It also compliments other unique appetizers like my Smoked Gouda & Ricotta Fritters. All that’s left to do is to toast some baguette slices!
Additional Appetizer Recipes to Try!
- Classic Roasted Tomato Crostini
- Figs with Roquefort and Honey
- Elegant Eggplant Napoleons
- Crostini with Brie, Coppa and Raspberry
Filet Of Beef Carpaccio With Capers, Olive Oil and Pub Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 pound beef tenderloin
- 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- ⅓ cup capers, drained and rinsed
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- ⅓ to 1/2 cup Pub Sauce, my recipe for A Pub Sauce Worthy of Double Dipping!
- ½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Season the tenderloin well with the Kosher salt, and black pepper. Allow to stand at room temperature for 1 hour.
- Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to the hot skillet and sear the tenderloin evenly to a nice brown color on all sides and all edges, yet still rare in the middle. Total time for the entire tenderloin to sear will be between 5 and 7 minutes.
- Using tongs, remove the tenderloin to a sheet of heavy gauge aluminum foil and let cool 5 minutes. Wrap tightly in the foil, eliminating and pressing any pockets of air. Refrigerate for 24 hours or until needed.
- Make the Pub Sauce and refrigerate until ready to use.
Assembly
- Prepare a 12-inch FLAT platter or plate for serving.
- Remove the well-chilled tenderloin from the aluminum to a cutting board. Using a sharp meat knife, carefully slice the filet as thin as you can.
- Drizzle some of the Pub Sauce on the bottom of the platter. This needs to be scant. Just here and there, but not covering the platter.
- Arrange the thin slices of carpaccio atop the platter. This should be an initial single layer. Anything left that does don cover the platter from side to side, end to end may be added as fill-ins. I try to bunch the carpaccio up slightly like ribbons versus lay it flat, but the look of it is up to you.
- Drizzle a bit more Pub Sauce. I like to drizzle here and there, but not over everything. I do this because I want for the olive oil to show also and that will not happen if the Pub Sauce is over everything. I chose to serve additional Pub Sauce on the side in a serving bowl with a little spoon.
- Drizzle with olive oil. Scatter the capers all over. Scatter the chopped parsley all over. Pea shoots or baby arugula may also be used. If using baby arugula, use sparingly. Purely optional, but finishing with a smoked salt imparts a nice balance. If you have smoked salt, a fine pinch will do but no more.
- Serve with toasted baguette rounds or store bought crostini similar to what I am using in my photos. If using store bought crostini, select a plain crostini over a flavored crostini. Again, the carpaccio is the star and should be the most pronounced profile.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.