By David Tanis
- Total Time
- 1½ hours, plus 30 minutes' seasoning
- Rating
- 4(236)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Stuffed beef tenderloin is always an impressive main course. This one is summery, with a zesty, garlicky herb pesto, ideal for grilling over coals. It is delicious served at room temperature for an elegant summer buffet. Ask your butcher for a nice center-cut piece of tenderloin. If you aren’t comfortable with butterflying the meat yourself, ask the butcher to do that too, but it’s really not very difficult.
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Ingredients
Yield:6 to 8 servings
- 3pound center-cut beef tenderloin, trimmed of fat
- Salt and pepper
- 2cups Italian parsley leaves
- 4cups basil leaves
- 4garlic cloves, grated or finely minced
- 1cup pitted green olives
- ½cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus a little more for drizzling
- 4ounces grated pecorino romano (1 cup)
- 1teaspoon grated lemon zest
- ½teaspoon crushed red pepper
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
636 calories; 51 grams fat; 17 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 26 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 4 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 0 grams sugars; 40 grams protein; 569 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Position the meat on a cutting board so it is perpendicular to the board. With a sharp knife, make a 1-inch-deep incision along the length of the roast. Then use a sawing motion as you continue to cut, moving the knife down and to the left; with your fingers, begin to pry open the roast. Continue cutting, flattening the meat as you go to make a flat rectangular piece about 9 by 12 inches. (Don’t worry if it looks a bit ragged.) Lightly pound the meat with a mallet to make it evenly flat. Season meat on both sides with salt and pepper. Lay the meat on a baking sheet cut side up and refrigerate while you prepare the pesto.
Step
2
Make the pesto: Put parsley, basil, garlic and olives in a food processor or blender. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Pulse to roughly chop, then add oil and process to a coarse purée. Add cheese, lemon zest and crushed red pepper and pulse briefly to combine.
Step
3
Spread pesto evenly over the cut surface of the beef, leaving a 1-inch border at all edges. Roll up the meat like a jellyroll, with the seam on the bottom. Tie roll securely with butcher’s twine at 2-inch intervals along its length. Drizzle the surface of the roll with oil and rub with your hands to distribute. Leave meat at room temperature to season for at least 30 minutes. (Alternatively, wrap and refrigerate the roast for several hours or overnight. Return to room temperature before proceeding.)
Step
4
Build a fire in a charcoal grill, leaving one side of the grill free of coals. Sear the roast on all sides directly over medium-hot coals. Move the roast off the coals and cook over indirect heat, turning occasionally, until an instant-read thermometer registers 125 degrees for medium-rare meat, about 30 minutes. (To prevent overcooking, begin checking after 20 minutes.) Let rest for at least 15 minutes before removing twine and carving into ½-inch slices. For easier slicing, let roast cool to room temperature.
- Alternatively, sear the meat on a stovetop grill or in a large cast-iron pan and finish it in a 375-degree oven. The cooking time will be about the same.
Ratings
4
out of 5
236
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Cooking Notes
Perignon
A trick when you're worried about evenly cooking any type of meat, from Filet Mignon to prime rib, from pork loins to whole hams: do the slow cooking first, then sear the outside (over a hot grill, in a sizzling stove-top pan, or at 500 degrees in a well preheated oven) as the last step. And don't forget what David says about letting the meat rest. It makes a big difference in how moist the meat will be when you serve it.
Annie
Funny - I was taught to do the opposite, to get a good sear on the meat, then lower the temperature, and it is what I have always done successfully.
I very much like this stuffing and have used it often with a large loin of pork. It is very much a typical Italian thing to do.
pennijj
A video would be so helpful. I'm just not understanding the "cutting down and to the left" part. By "perpendicular" you mean standing on its end?
Stu
I've totally converted from the "sear-first" school to the "slow-cook-first" method and will never go back. I slow cook using a remote-reading thermometer to an internal "pull" temp of 115 to 118F in a 225F oven. Then, let the meat rest for 30 mins under foil before browning under a super hot broiler very briefly. No more grey band of overcooked meat and perfectly deep pink from edge to edge. Carryover heat will bring the internal temp to about 125/130F.
Lynn
Could you please clarify which end to start rolling so when slicing we will be cutting against the grain? Thank you.
invisiblezipper
This was a terrific recipe. Followed it to a T and it was delicious. Watched a YouTube video on slicing the meat b/c the instructions didn’t make sense to me. A couple notes - 3 lbs easily makes 6 servings, maybe even 8. I was only able to use 1/2 the pesto on the steak. I don’t cook red meat very often so I wasn’t aware that the tenderloin steak is VERY EXPENSIVE! Mine was $36 a pound. This is a great recipe but quite a monetary investment.
MSWIS
Great company dinner.
Toni
I am planning to make this for dinner party this weekend. Did you cook it on the grill or inside?
Frank
Made this last night for a small dinner party. Truly wonderful. Made per the recipe but in the oven/stovetop rather than on the grill due to weather. Only disappointment was that the tenderloin was smaller so there were no leftovers! An expensive cut of meat but cheap compared to the same entree at a restaurant. Rave reviews by the guests,
Chris
I cooked this for the first time for guests over the weekend and it was stunning. I pretty much stuck to the recipe for the pesto, but used Grana Padana instead of Pecorino. My butterflying was not perfect and the pesto oozed out in places, but this was not a problem and disappeared after a brief searing in a hot pan. The outside of the meat looked perfect after 25 minutes in a 200 deg C (390 F) oven and it was pink and juicy on the inside. A real hit, thanks for the recipe.
John G
A good way to visualize the cut is to roll up a piece of paper, and then unroll it along a table top. I haven't tried it yet, but the way I'm planning is to cut the slit along top, and then rotate the roast to the right (left if you're left handed) until slit is 1" above cutting board . Then, holding the knife horizontal with the cutting board, I'll slice to the left and unroll the meat to the left with my left hand on top. Easy to control thickness during cut.
oxygenisgood
Have made it twice with pesto in freezer from summer. I think any good pesto will work well, with addition of the olives, lemon zest, and pecorino/romano.Great dish! Thanks for the recipe.
EmulsionMike
Made this for four. 1 1/2 lb of tenderloin, cut to about an inch thick. Halved the filling ingredients. On a medium high heat I gave it two minutes on each of 4 sides, then turned off the middle burner and gave it another 4 minutes per 4 sides. Let it sit for 15. It was perfect, looked just like the photo and was quite delicious.
Erik Anestad
I used port tenderloin instead and served with potatoes and vegetables grilled in a basket. Great success!
Rena
Do NOT return the roast to room temperature -a particularly unsafe practice when not using a solid piece of meat. Bacteria have been introduced to the center due to butter-flying/stuffing, and between searing and roasting it's unnecessary.
I looked up how long it would take to get to room temp since one of my guests had a recent organ transplant. Found this highly credible info: http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/mythbusting_letting_meat_come_...
Cedarglen
(Part One?) When using expensive ingredients, I tend to make the original as suggested, before applying any tweaks. (Here, I cannot find the original source, so I have little background to mess with...) I've seen this before, but I do not know where.) The only concession for my tiny table was a smaller log of tenderloin.) I did include a few smashed anchovies, for a pan sauce and cooled fully. (Part two, please.)
.
maggie
This is my firs time stuffing & rolling anything! I got pesto all over the outside of the roast. Will it burn and taste terrible?
Ricardo
Didn't have the olives and was making it for 8-10 so I tackled a whole tenderloin, where I cut off the ends and other fabulous bits, but it was delicious! Didn't get to David's perfection on cutting the tenderloin open but close enough was excellent. Totally recommend the room temperature lay down before grilling. Awesome, but then again it's a $20/lb. cut of beef!
Stu
I've totally converted from the "sear-first" school to the "slow-cook-first" method and will never go back. I slow cook using a remote-reading thermometer to an internal "pull" temp of 115 to 118F in a 225F oven. Then, let the meat rest for 30 mins under foil before browning under a super hot broiler very briefly. No more grey band of overcooked meat and perfectly deep pink from edge to edge. Carryover heat will bring the internal temp to about 125/130F.
linearlinear
I have no grill. How would I cook this using stovetop and oven? Thank you!!
Andrea
has anyone tried on a gas grill? Tips?
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