A beautiful spring salad of rare roasted topside of beef, with radicchio, wild garlic, hazelnuts and parmesan. This is a wonderful alternative to the usual Sunday roast centrepiece.
A salad (for that is what this is) has, over the years, probably become too narrowly perceived. Too often an afterthought or side offering, leaves and dressing, tomatoes or avocados (often both), lazily slung in. There is, of course, a place for a side salad. In fact, sometimes it is wholly necessary. But there is also a gaping space for a salad to be front and centre. A salad can be almost anything, boundless in its possibilities.
At their best, salads are seasonal and considered, all bound by a dressing that carries the seasoning for the whole dish. Plus, there’s an arsenal of extras to play with: those choice little bits that add intrigue to the occasion. Nuts, cheeses, anchovies, capers, croutons … I could go on. This salad is simple, constructed with the intention of surrounding slices of rare roasted topside with ingredients it wants to be eaten with.
For a different take using the same cut, try George’s Rare Roast Topside of Beef with Tonnato Dressing, a summer dish inspired by the Piedmontese classic vitello tonnato, pairing cold sliced beef with a punchy tuna, anchovy and caper dressing.
Serves 5-6
Ingredients
Method
Start by Cooking the Topside
- Remove the topside from the fridge and its packaging and allow it to come up to room temperature.
- Preheat your oven to 200°C.
- Season the topside well with fine sea salt and rub all over with a little olive oil.
- Place the topside on an oven tray and transfer to the oven. Set a timer for 10 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to 145°C and then cook for a further 40-45 minutes.
- Remove the topside from the oven and leave to rest and cool, for about an hour.
Make the Dressing as the Meat Rests
- Add 3 teaspoons of Dijon mustard, a pinch of salt, and 3 tablespoons of Moscatel vinegar to a small mixing bowl or jug. Whisk together and then start adding the olive oil in a steady stream, whisking continuously. Once the oil is incorporated, add the lemon juice, stir, taste, and then adjust the seasoning as necessary.
To Finish and Assemble the Salad
- Use a very sharp knife and slice the topside as thinly as you can. Add it to a mixing bowl, along with the radicchio, rocket, wild garlic, shallots, hazelnuts, and capers. Mix well and then spoon over a liberal amount of the dressing — but do save a little for later.
- Toss the salad, in a gentle manner, so that the dressing reaches all corners, then taste for seasoning and adjust as necessary.
- Lay the salad out on a large serving platter and shave or grate over all of the parmesan.
- Drizzle over any remaining dressing and serve.
