Beef salad with vegetables and pesto

Method

1. For the raw salad: finely slice the radish, celery and asparagus with a mandolin. Cut the carrot into ribbons using a peeler. Put all the vegetables into a bowl of iced water and leave for about 30 minutes to crisp up.

2. For the peppered beef: preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6.

3. Season the beef with salt and coat in cracked black pepper. Heat an ovenproof griddle pan to smoking hot and sear on all sides. Transfer to the hot oven for 4-5 minutes for very rare meat. Leave to rest while you make the pesto.

4. For the watercress pesto: put all the pesto ingredients in a blender and drizzle in the olive oil while the motor is running.

5. Drain the salad from the iced water and dress with a mixture of olive oil and mustard. Toss in the tarragon leaves.

6. Thinly slice the beef and lay out on a serving plate. Spoon over the watercress pesto and top with the raw salad.