Beef Carpaccio with Fried Capers and Lemon Aioli

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

Paper-thin sheets of raw beef tenderloin, achieved at home without a deli slicer by firming the meat in the freezer and pounding the slices between plastic. Dressed simply with lemon aioli, peppery arugula, shaved parmesan and capers fried crisp in olive oil — a fine-dining plate that takes almost no actual cooking.

Ingredients

• 12 oz center-cut beef tenderloin, trimmed of all fat and silverskin
• 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, for the meat
• Flaky sea salt
• Freshly cracked black pepper

• 1/2 cup good-quality mayonnaise
• 1 small garlic clove, grated on a microplane
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp cold water, as needed to thin
• Kosher salt

• 3 tbsp capers in brine, drained and patted very dry
• 1/4 cup olive oil, for frying

• 2 cups baby arugula, loosely packed
• 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 oz Parmigiano-Reggiano, shaved with a peeler
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges

Instructions

1. Buy the tenderloin the day you plan to serve it and tell the butcher it will be eaten raw. At home, trim away every trace of fat, silverskin and connective tissue — on raw beef these read as chewy, not rich. You want a clean, even cylinder about 2 inches across.
2. Roll the trimmed loin tightly in a double layer of plastic wrap, twisting the ends like a candy wrapper to compact it into a firm log. Freeze for 45 to 60 minutes, until the outside is hard to the touch but a knife tip pressed into the center still meets some give. Fully frozen beef shatters instead of slicing; too soft and it smears.
3. While the beef firms, make the aioli: whisk the mayonnaise, grated garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, Dijon and olive oil in a small bowl. Thin with cold water a teaspoon at a time until it drizzles from a spoon in a ribbon. Season with a pinch of salt, cover and refrigerate.
4. Fry the capers: heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a small skillet over medium-high until it shimmers, about 2 minutes. Add the dried capers — stand back, they spatter — and fry 60 to 90 seconds, swirling, until the buds burst open into little flowers and stop sizzling loudly. Lift out with a slotted spoon onto a paper towel; they crisp further as they cool.
5. Unwrap the chilled beef and set it on a cold cutting board. Using your sharpest long, thin knife (a slicing or chef's knife, not serrated), cut across the grain in long, smooth pulls — no sawing — at about 1/8 inch thick. Work quickly and rewrap and refreeze the log for 10 minutes if it starts to soften.
6. Lay 3 or 4 slices at a time on a sheet of plastic wrap on a hard surface, spacing them apart, and cover with a second sheet. Pound gently with the flat side of a meat mallet or the bottom of a small heavy skillet, working from the center outward, until each slice is nearly translucent and roughly doubled in size. Use light, spreading taps; heavy blows tear the meat.
7. Peel off the top plastic and invert each sheet of beef directly onto a chilled dinner plate, then peel away the second sheet. Arrange the slices edge to edge so they cover the plate in a single layer with no gaps. Repeat for all four plates. If prepping ahead, cover with plastic and refrigerate up to 2 hours.
8. Just before serving, brush or drizzle the beef with 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with flaky salt and plenty of cracked black pepper. Drizzle the lemon aioli over the top in thin zigzag lines — you want about 1 1/2 tablespoons per plate, not a blanket.
9. Toss the arugula with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 teaspoons lemon juice and a pinch of salt, then pile a small loose mound in the center of each plate. Scatter shaved parmesan and the fried capers over everything, add a lemon wedge and serve immediately, while the beef is still cold and the capers are crisp.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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