Tagliata salad with warm garlic and anchovy salad

This is a favourite salad of mine which can be used with both thinly sliced beef and chicken, depending on your preferences. I particularly like this salad as I grow radicchio, flat-leaf parsley, rosemary and rocket in my garden, so it makes the preparation of the salad very simple and extra fresh. The warm garlic and anchovy dressing is also a very versatile dressing, so keep it in your mind for other uses.

The name tagliata comes from the Italian “tagliare” meaning ‘to cut’ and here refers to the slicing of the beef. The key to the success of this dish come from using prime-quality steak and a very hot pan to achieve a good crust on the meat while it remains tender and rare inside. I like to slice the meat very thin, so that you are really only just getting a taste of the meat. As I said, you can use chicken here, but do make sure that the chicken is good through. This serves 4 as a light meal or even 6 as an entrée.

Tagliata salad with warm garlic and anchovy dressing

4 garlic cloves

1 tablespoon rosemary

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 beef sirloin or fillet (about 200g each)

2 radicchio heads, tough outer leaves discarded

1 cup loosely packed rocket

1/2 cup loosely packed flat-leaf parsley

50ml extra-virgin olive oil

6 anchovy fillets, coarsely chopped

30ml aged balsamic vinegar

Juice 1/2 lemon

Pound half of the garlic, half of the rosemary and 1 teaspoon sea salt in a pestle and mortar to a coarse paste. Stir in the olive oil, season to taste and transfer to a container. Add the beef, turn to coat well and marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Coarsely tear radicchio leaves, halve the hearts and combine leaves and hearts in a large bowl with the rocket and parsley. Set aside.

Heat a large frying pan over high heat. Drain beef from marinade and cook, turning once, until done to your liking (2-3 minutes each side for medium-rare). Transfer to a plate and rest for 5 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium. Thinly slice remaining garlic and add to the pan with extra-virgin olive oil, anchovies and remaining rosemary. Cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant (1-2 minutes), remove from the heat, add vinegar and lemon juice and season to taste. Pour dressing over the leaves, tossing to combine.

Very thinly slice the beef, add to leaves, toss to combine and serve.