Stuffed grilled flank steak with roasted garlic, basil, pecorino, crisp shallots and rocket
Make sure you factor in time to soak the steak overnight in a peppercorn brine to tenderise it. Look for flank steak (also known as bavette) for this flavoursome recipe.
Equipment and preparation: You will need a meat tenderiser for this recipe.
Ingredients
For the brine
- 100/3½dz salt
- 70g/2½oz light brown sugar
- 50ml/2fl oz red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tsp pink peppercorns
- small bunch thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 garlic cloves, smashed
For the stuffed grilled flank steak
- 1 whole piece flank or bavette steak (around 500g/1lb 2oz)
- 1 bulb garlic
- drizzle olive oil
- 1 bunch fresh basil
- 1 chopped green chilli, chopped
- 50/1¾dz pecorino cheese, grated
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the shallots
- small handful plain flour
- 2 banana shallots, thinly sliced
- dash oil
To serve
Method
To make the brine, bring 1 litre/1¾ pints of water to a simmer with the salt, brown sugar, red wine vinegar, black peppercorns, pink peppercorns, thyme, bay leaves and garlic.Once the sugar and salt have dissolved, remove from the heat and leave to cool.
For the stuffed grilled flank steak, butterfly the steak by making a cut horizontally through the steak, stopping before you get all the way to the other end, then open it up like a book. Put the beef in the cooled brine and leave overnight.
Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Discard the papery outer layers of the whole garlic bulb, leaving the rest of the bulb intact. Trim the top of the bulb to expose the individual cloves. Place in a tray, drizzle oil over and then wrap in foil. Transfer to the hot oven and roast for about 30 minutes, or until the cloves feel soft.
Remove the steak from the brine, pat it dry with kitchen paper and then bash it a bit using a meat tenderiser (a rolling pin or pan will do if you don't have one).Season the inside with salt and freshly ground black pepper and oil well.
Once the garlic is cool, remove the soft cloves from the bulb.
Preheat the grill to hot.
Spread the garlic all over one side of the steak, add the basil leaves, chilli and pecorino, allowing a border all the way around. Fold the other side back over and bash together with the meat tenderiser.
Oil and season the outside with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Put the steak on a tray under the hot grill and cook on both sides for around 7-8 minutes on each side. Allow to rest well before slicing.
For the shallots, season the flour with salt and freshly ground black pepper and toss the shallots in the seasoned flour. Heat a dash of oil in a pan and fry the shallots until crisp and golden-brown.
To serve, dress the rocket with the lemon juice in a bowl. Season the shallots and toss them with the olive oil and lemon-dressed rocket and the pecorino.Slice the steak and serve with the shallots and rocket.
