Beef Fillet with Rioja Jus

Name: Beef Fillet with Rioja Jus
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 10 restaurant main-course portions
Ingredients: 1.8 kg to 2 kg Beef fillet portions, trimmed, portioned at 180 to 200 g each; for searing Extra-virgin olive oil; generously Sea salt; freshly ground Black pepper; 1 each Garlic, clove, lightly crushed; 1 each Rosemary, sprig; 1 each Thyme, sprig; 10 each Potato fondant; 1 quenelle or swipe per plate Piquillo pepper purée; 500 ml to 600 ml Rioja jus, finished; 10 each Charred spring onion; a few drops per plate Excellent olive oil

Solomillo de Ternera al Rioja

Beef Fillet · Potato Fondant · Piquillo Pepper Purée · Rioja Jus · Charred Spring Onion

Sliced beef fillet, cooked medium rare, with a sweep of piquillo pepper purée, a glazed potato fondant, charred spring onion and crisp potato threads on a dark plate — Shown with the optional crisp potato threads noted below.

The beef is kept deliberately simple. The Spanish character comes from everything around it: the Rioja, the piquillo, olive oil, garlic, smoked paprika and the char on the spring onion. Cook the fillet hard, rest it properly, and let the jus do the talking.

Written for 10 restaurant main-course portions · 180 to 200 g of fillet · Preparation 40 min · Cooking 20 min

Cook this

Serve it medium rare with a strong caramelised crust. Everything else on the plate is built to sit around that, not to compete with it.
Chef Paul Dukai

Ingredients

Serves

The fillet

Beef fillet portions, trimmed, portioned at 180 to 200 g each1.8 kg to 2 kg
Extra-virgin olive oilfor searing
Sea saltgenerously
Black pepperfreshly ground
Garlic, clove, lightly crushed1 each
Rosemary, sprig1 each
Thyme, sprig1 each

To finish the plate

Potato fondant10 each
Piquillo pepper purée1 quenelle or swipe per plate
Rioja jus, finished500 ml to 600 ml
Charred spring onion10 each
Excellent olive oila few drops per plate

Method

Temper the beef before cooking.
Season generously with salt.
Sear in a very hot pan with a little olive oil until deeply browned on all sides.
Add the garlic, rosemary and thyme.
Finish in the oven at 180°C until the centre reaches approximately 48 to 50°C.
Rest for 6 to 8 minutes before serving.

The same dish at the table, a diner lifting a slice of the fillet with a fork

Chef’s notes

The fillet is the one thing on this plate that cannot be recovered. Pull it at 48 to 50°C and rest it; the carry-over does the rest.
Keep the jus around the beef rather than over it. Poured over, it softens the crust you just spent the sear building.

The finish

A single quenelle or elegant swipe of piquillo purée.
The potato fondant positioned alongside.
The beef fillet, sliced or whole, as the hero.
A small amount of Rioja jus around the beef, not drowning it.
One beautifully charred spring onion.
A few drops of excellent olive oil.

One small Spanish element is worth considering, and only one: pickled mustard seeds with Rioja, or crispy potato threads with smoked paprika.

Be careful not to add too much. The dish already has a very strong identity.

Make ahead

The jus and the purée are both better made a day ahead. The fondants can be cooked and glazed in advance and finished to order. The spring onions and the beef are cooked at the pass.

Keeping

DUKAI storage guidance

Fillet is cooked to order and not held. Cool it quickly rather than leaving it on the pass: to below 21°C within about two hours, and to 5°C or below within a further four. Any cooked component kept back should be at 5°C or below and used within 3 to 4 days.

Allergens and diet

Sulphites, from the wine.

Also in the Recipe Book

Last refined · September 2026