Lomo al Trapo literally means “beef tenderloin in a towel”. There are a number of different recipes from very simple to more complex. The basic recipe places a clean kitchen towel on the counter, places a layer of salt on the towel, then puts the tenderloin on the towel, rolls up the towel tightly, ties it with twine and then places the towel and meat in hot coals, cooking until the towel has burned off. The towel can be soaked in water but better yet, red wine before wrapping the beef. Some recipes will marinate the beef overnight prior to cooking.
The following recipe is much less traditional, a little more complicated, very Peppin and delicious. The towel is soaked in wine, and the meat seared prior to wrapping. This dish can be made in a BBQ with charcoal, in a gas grill or in the oven. Burning the towel off of the meat, didn’t appeal to me, so I choose the oven.
I like my meat more well done, but this recipe lends itself to rare, medium or well done. Just use the charts for internal temperature. I shoot for 160 degrees F, again your preference as rare would be 125 degrees F. If you wish to do the classical version, you can follow the instructions above.
I have tried this recipe a couple of ways all were delicious. My first attempt, I wrapped the towel around the meat with the salt and spices, see the pictures above, and then wrapped this in Aluminum foil. This actually poached the beef, but it was still wonderfully tender and delicious. The second time I didn’t use the aluminum foil and the meet was less “poached” and also delicious. A good cut of meat is critical for this dish and I used a prime beef loin.
Lomo al Trapo
Ingredients
Meat Preparation
- 1 Center Cut piece of Beef Tenderloin (weighing 12-16 ounces)
- 1 cup Approximately good red wine
- 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
Wrapping the Meat & Cooking
- 1 clean kitchen towel
- 2 cups Morton's Kosher salt
- 6 Fresh Italian oregano sprigs
- 6 Fresh Thyme sprigs
- 4 Fresh Rosemary sprigs
- 3 Garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 tbsp. melted butter
- Twine
Instructions
- Trim all of the fat and connective silvery skin.
- In a Frypan on medium to high heat, place the EVOO. When the oil is hot, sear the meat on all sides to a golden brown.
- Set the oven at 375 degrees F
- Lay out the clean kitchen towel in a clean cookie sheet or baking dish. This keeps the red wine from running all over the counter.
- Soak the towel in red wine.
- Coat the towel with the salt.
- Then lay down the herb sprigs evenly across the towel.
- Sprinkle the garlic evenly over the towel.
- Place the piece of meat towards one end of the towel.
- Pour the melted butter over the meat.
- Roll up the meat, salt and herbs in the towel. Fold in th etwo ends tightly and roll into a tight cylinder
- Tie up the rolled towel, as you would truss a rolled piece of meat.
- Place the rolled meat packet in a baking dish and in the oven.
- Cook until the internal temperature reaches your desired meat level.
- Remove the packet from the oven, unwrap carefully, brush off as much salt as possible, slice the meat and serve.
