Svíčková: Beef with Creamy Vegetable Sauce
Marinated beef roasted slowly and served with a creamy root-vegetable sauce. Makes 4 servings.
Svíčková pairs tender beef with a smooth sauce made from the vegetables in the marinade. It is commonly served with knedlíky, Czech bread dumplings; this recipe covers the beef and sauce.
Method
- 01
Marinate the beef
Put the beef in a deep dish with the carrots, parsnip, onion, garlic, allspice berries, peppercorns, and bay leaves. Add vinegar until the beef is half submerged. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- 02
Brown the beef
Take the beef out of the marinade and set it aside with the vegetables and liquid. Melt the butter in an oven-safe pan and brown the beef on all sides. Briefly remove it and add the marinade vegetables to the pan.
- 03
Roast until tender
Return the beef to the pan. Add enough marinade liquid to partly cover the vegetables. Roast at 160 °C for about 2 hours, until the beef is tender. Remove the beef and keep it covered while you make the sauce.
120 min - 04
Make the sauce
Blend the roasted vegetables with the remaining liquid in the pan until smooth. Return the mixture to the pan and simmer gently until thickened. Stir in the cream and warm through while stirring.
- 05
Slice and serve
Slice the beef and serve it with the creamy sauce.
Ingredients
Sources and review
Content researched, cross-checked and automatically validated. Sources consulted:
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State: Published after documentary validation; no “Tested” label is shown.