Beef carpaccio is a classic Italian starter that barely touches the stove. Since the beef is served raw, buy the best you can, ideally well-hung fillet from a good butcher. A scatter of peppery cress and microgreens and a squeeze of lemon cut the richness of the meat.

Ingredients

500 grams beef fillet (ready to cook)
1 small box cress
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons red shiso sprout
50 grams freshly grated Parmesan
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Rinse the beef fillet under cold water and pat it dry. Wrap it tightly in plastic, then in foil, and freeze for 3 hours. Firming up the meat makes it far easier to slice thin.
While the beef firms up, trim the cress and set it aside. Whisk the olive oil and lemon juice together to make a simple vinaigrette. Rinse and dry the red shiso sprouts.
Unwrap the beef and, using a very sharp knife or a slicer, cut it into almost transparent slices.
Arrange the slices in a single layer on chilled plates, overlapping slightly if needed.
Drizzle the lemon vinaigrette evenly over the beef.
Scatter over the trimmed cress and red shiso sprouts, then grate the Parmesan over the top.
Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and serve right away, while chilled.

A few capers or thin radish slices are a good addition, and if shiso is hard to find, arugula or other microgreens give the same peppery lift.

Grower's tip: The garnishes make this dish, and they are the easy part to grow. A shallow tray of cress or a pot of arugula on the windowsill gives you a peppery bite in a couple of weeks; snip the leaves young, before they turn tough and sharp.

Grow your own finishing greens with a tray of cress and other salad seeds, a pot of peppery arugula, and a few radishes to slice over the top.

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