How to Make Beef Carpaccio at Home

Beef Carpaccio is such a restaurant dish – something we’ll easily shell out 10$ or $20 for as a starter for one while having a nice dinner, but something people rarely do at home, when spending 10$ or 20$ could make a great and very elegant appetizer for a whole table of people!

1. It’s very very easy to make
2. Looks dramatic and appetizing on a plate
3. Is definitely celebration eats
4. Everyone likes it!

So consider this classic beef dish as an appetizer plate for your next dinner party or celebration meal.

How to Make Beef Carpaccio (to feed about 6 people)

• 1 ½ pounds of beef, in a single piece - The dish is very traditionally made with beef tenderloin, and it’s great with this tender but pricey cut – but it can also be made with sirloin, top loin or top round
• A chunk of good parmesan, for shaving over the beef
• Salt and pepper
• Extra virgin olive oil and lemons for juice
• Arugula (rocket) salad leaves (optional)

1. Throw the meat in the freezer about 2 hours before you plan to slice and serve the beef (because this dish is eaten raw, you do not want to slice this long before serving, for safety reasons.). Meat that is not chilled like this is too hard to slice very thinly.
   
2. A little bit before you plan to slice the meat, start preparing by throwing your serving plates (plain white is best) in the fridge to chill.
3. When ready to slice, first lay out a good sized section or cling film on the counter (you’ll put the beef on here first after slicing)
4. Slice the beef across the grain of the meat into slices, as thinly as you can. Take each slice and put it on the cling film. Use a very sharp chef's knife or fish filleting knife here...of course of you ave a meat slicer - use it!
   
5. When you have a few slices done, lay another layer of cling film over top and then using your hand, a meat mallet, or another heavy instrument, pound the meat into even thinner rounds.
6. Continue cutting and pounding until you have sliced the whole section of meat
7. To serve, lay the thin sheets of beef in rounds over each of the chilled plates, until the entire surface of each plate is covered in the beef.
8. Add a small mound of arugula leaves in the center of the plate
9. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil over the plates, and then follow that with the lemon juice, giving each plate the juice from a good sized wedge of lemon
10. Follow this with shavings of parmesan cheese for each plate and lastly with a sprinkling of salt (fleur de sel is great here) and a little freshly cracked pepper all over.
11. Serve at once!

*Note, to increase the safety of this dish for people who may have compromised immune systems, the elderly or the very young, you can sear the exterior very quickly before slicing the meat.)