Bavette carpaccio with fried capers + mustard mayo

Because you cook the bavette cut in a flash, keeping it rare and juicy inside, it works very well in this version of the Italian classic of beef carpaccio. I discovered this after cooking bavette and chips and being left with more steak than we could eat. I sliced the chilled leftover meat into super-thin ruby-red slivers and sprinkled it with chopped parsley, fried capers and Parmesan. It went down very well, and has become a firm favourite in our house, especially for laid-back lunches with lots of different salads. The Italians might use rocket to top authentic carpaccio, but this being entirely inauthentic, I like to use peppery parsley and mustard mayo for an English twist.

INGREDIENTS

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

flavourless oil, (groundnut or sunflower)

1 tablespoon capers, drained

1 tablespoon pine nuts

1 tablespoon english mustard

3 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for frying and drizzling

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped

5g parmesan shards, (use a vegetable peeler to make these)

pine nuts, toasted

350-400g bavette or skirt steak

METHOD

If cooking from scratch, season both sides of the steak thoroughly with salt and pepper. Heat a greased heavy-based frying pan until stinking hot. Put the steak in the pan (it should sizzle immediately) and cook for about 3–5 minutes on each side for rare-medium. Transfer to a chopping board and leave to rest. Once cooled, refrigerate for 1 hour.

Heat a little flavourless oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and fry the capers for a few minutes until crisp and puffed. Remove to a bowl covered with kitchen paper. Wipe the pan with kitchen paper and toast the pine nuts for a few minutes, shaking the pan occasionally, until golden brown. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Whisk together the mustard, mayonnaise and olive oil until you have a loose sauce. Remove the steak from the fridge and finely slice it into slivers against the grain. Arrange on a large plate or serving platter. Drizzle with the mustard mayo and lemon juice, and scatter over the parsley, Parmesan shards and capers. Drizzle with olive oil and finish with the pine nuts and salt and pepper.

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