Rosemary Beef Fillet

~Nimz~'s Note:

Some fresh rosemary adds a lot of flavor to this simple festive roast

• Total Time: 50 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 1 (3 ½ lb) trimmed and tied center-cut beef tenderloin , room temperature
• 4 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 -3 garlic cloves , minced
• 4 -6 sprigs fresh rosemary (3-4 inch)
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Pat tenderloin dry, then coat all sides with salt, pepper and garlic.
3. Tuck rosemary sprigs under strings on all sides of roast, leaving a few inches between each.
4. Heat oil in a heavy skillet over high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown tenderloin on all sides (but not ends) about 10 minutes.
5. Transfer pan to oven and roast until thermometer inserted diagonally 2 inches into center of meat registers 120 degrees, 25-30 minutes.
6. Transfer beef to a cutting board and let stand 15 minutes.
7. Temperature of meat will rise to about 130 degrees.
8. Discard string and rosemary sprigs before slicing.

Reviews

[Keolani]

This was fantastic. I was very surprised how well the rosemary flavor penetrated the meat by just laying on top like that. I probably did not sear enough because I was worried about burning the garlic but it was wonderful.

[evelyn/athens]

As per ellie's suggestion, I actually put the rosemary and garlic into slits in the roast so that the flavours could permeate inside. The cooking technique is really good and resulted in a perfectly-cooked, medium-rare roast.

[kzbhansen]

This was fabulous!!! I love the rosemary in this. My tenderloin was really think and required and additional 10 mins cooking to get to 120 degrees. We will be making this again, thanks for posting.