Beef Mini Roast with Porcini and Chilli

This tasty roast beef mini roasting joint is topped with a dried porcini and chilli paste. It's cooked in under an hour, cut into strips and tossed in a spring salad.

Prep Time: 5 mins

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Serves: 3 people

Ingredients

  • 1 x 400-450g lean beef mini roasting joint (we used a mini topside joint)

  • For the Porcini and Chilli Paste:

  • 1 tablespoon caster sugar
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
  • Pinch freshly milled black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons dried porcini mushrooms
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
  • 5 tablespoons rapeseed or olive oil

  • For the Salad:

  • 1 bunch green asparagus, shaved with a swivel headed potato peeler
  • ½ small cucumber, thinly sliced into ribbons
  • 2 tablespoons freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • Grated zest of 1 lemon
  • 75g baby spinach or pea shoot leaves
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin rapeseed or olive oil

Method

  1. To prepare the paste; put the sugar, salt, chilli flakes, pepper and mushrooms into a small blender and grind to a fine powder. Transfer to a small bowl; add the garlic and oil and mix to form a paste.
  2. Preheat the oven to 190°C,170°C Fan, Gas Mark 5.
  3. Place the beef on a chopping board, make several slashes over the surface and brush with the paste. Transfer to a roasting rack in a medium non-stick roasting tin and roast for 40-50 minutes. Cover with foil if browning too quickly.
  4. Remove the joint from the oven, transfer to a warm plate, cover and leave to rest for 5-10 minutes, 20 minutes if time allows.
  5. To prepare the salad; in a large bowl mix together all the ingredients, season and stir gently.
  6. Slice the beef into strips, toss in the salad and serve.

Tips:

The rub works fantastically well with a large joint, but double the quantities of the porcini and chilli paste. If preferred cook the joint as a quick roast, carve and serve with seasonal vegetables rather than in the salad.