Christmas beef with port and thyme sauce
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- 30 mins to 1 hour
- Serve
- Serves 8
- Dietary
- Nut-free
A very smart alternative to turkey on Christmas Day. Fillet of beef is cooked to perfection and then carved into thick slices, with each slice topped with a Parmesan pastry star and port sauce. Sheer luxury.
You will need a 14cm/6in star cutter for this recipe.
Ingredients
For the marinade
- 450ml/16fl oz port
- 3 garlic cloves, bashed
- 5 sprigs thyme
- 2 bay leaves
For the beef
- 1.5kg/3lb 5oz centre-cut piece fillet of beef, trimmed
- sunflower oil, for frying
- dijon mustard, to taste
- 3 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
- plain flour, for dusting
- 2 x 320g ready rolled puff pastry
- 1 free-range egg, beaten
- 50g/1¾oz Parmesan, finely grated
- salt and pepper
For port gravy
- 3 banana shallots, chopped
- 1 celery stick, finely chopped
- 1 small carrot, peeled and finely chopped
- 450ml/16fl oz good-quality beef stock
- redcurrant jelly, to taste
- 2 tsp cornflour
Method
Make the marinade a day before you want to serve the beef. Measure the ingredients into a bowl, add the fillet and submerge in the marinade. Cover and chill in the fridge overnight, turning occasionally.
The next day, remove the fillet and pat dry. Reserve the marinade.
Season the fillet with salt and pepper and coat in sunflower oil. Heat a frying pan over a high heat until very hot. Brown the beef on all sides until golden. Transfer to a board, brush with Dijon mustard and roll in the thyme. Place in a roasting tin. (Keep the frying pan for making the sauce later.)
Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7.
Scatter a little flour over the worktop and unroll the pastry. Dust with more flour and roll out thinly. Stamp out 8 stars using a large star cutter (about 14cm/6in across). Place on a large baking sheet. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with Parmesan.
Slide the beef into the oven and roast for about 20–25 minutes, depending on the thickness of the beef and how rare you like it. Rest covered with foil for about 20 minutes.
In the same oven, bake the pastry stars for about 10–15 minutes until golden and crisp.
To make the port gravy, heat a little oil in the frying pan. Once hot, add the shallots, celery and carrot and fry until softened and nutty brown in colour. Pour in the reserved marinade. Bring to the boil and boil rapidly over a high heat until the volume of liquid is reduced by half. Add the stock and reduce by half again. Add redcurrant jelly to taste along with any resting juices from the meat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Strain the sauce through a sieve into a clean saucepan and place over a low heat. Measure the cornflour into a bowl and stir in a little cold water to form a smooth thin paste. Pour into the hot sauce and stir the sauce constantly until fully incorporated and slightly thickend.
Carve the beef into 8 thick slices and arrange on plates with the pastry star on top. Spoon the sauce around the beef and serve.
Recipe tips
To prepare ahead:
Make the port sauce a day ahead at the same time as baking the stars. Marinate the beef overnight.
On the day, cook the beef and reheat the sauce and stars.
