Old-fashioned beef fillet with pan-sautéed Catalonia 

The sautéed Catalonia is a seasonal side dish very simple to make and at the same time very tasty and original. I love very much this winter vegetable that many also call asparagus chicory. It consists of a tuft of many ribs, long with more or less jagged leaves of a beautiful intense green. It tastes rather bitter but if you buy the slightly younger one it has a really exquisite taste. This vegetable has numerous properties and is rich in vitamins and minerals. It is good for the intestine for the presence of fiber, is low in calories, promotes diuresis and the elimination of excess fluids. We can say that it is an excellent purifying and detoxifying vegetable. I use this recipe to accompany not very elaborate second courses, such as old-fashioned beef fillet. The vegetables are cooked directly in a pan with EVO oil, garlic, chili and a little tomato sauce. If any of you do not like the bitter taste can blanch Catalonia first and the problem is solved. 😉

Ingredients

1 head Catalonia large or 2 small

1 clove Garlic

Chili pepper to taste

3 tablespoons Tomato puree 

Salt to taste

EVO Oil

Preparation

Clean up Catalonia. Place it on a cutting board and first cut the hardest stems to throw and then transversely the leaves with the most tender stems into pieces of two centimeters. Rinse thoroughly and set aside in the water. Heat oil, garlic and chili in the pan. When it's hot, throw the water-soaked Catalonia into it. Let it sizzle stirring. After two minutes add the salt, which will release the vegetable its vegetation water. Add the tomato puree and continue to cook covered over low heat for 15 minutes. Then remove the lid and let the water evaporate. The duration of cooking depends on the tenderness of the vegetable and tastes. When it is cooked (mine took about twenty minutes), let it rest a little and serve it warm as a side dish with old-fashioned beef fillet. 

Ingredients Beef in Oil for 4 people:

1 kg of beef 

30 gr. Butter

10 cl of extra virgin olive oil

3 l of hot water

2-3 cloves of garlic (to be removed)

3-4 salted anchovies

1 shallot

3 handfuls of breadcrumbs

parsley

Salt and pepper to taste 

Preparation

Put the meat tied and fenced with garlic and anchovies clean, in a large saucepan and brown on the stove over moderate heat with butter and sautéed shallot. After the moods of the meat are stopped by browning add water. At the first boiling foam cover and continue over moderate heat for a couple of hours. Add the breadcrumbs and oil, continue cooking having the warning that the meat does not stick to the bottom, adjust the density of the sauce with the addition of additional breadcrumbs let it cool, slice it into 1 cm slices approximately. Serve by covering the slices of meat with the sauce and accompany the dish with pan-sautéed Catalonia.