22 Jan steak with salsa verde

I don’t know about you but this cold spell has had me craving meats and carbs. I’ve been looking for comfort food to warm me up and it’s been steak and pasta that I’ve found to be the most deliciously effective.

This week, we’ve paired a simple salsa verde (or ‘green sauce’ to you and I) with slices of juicy steak. You’ll love how the tart vinegar-doused salsa verde adds another dimension to a steak dinner.

Steak with Salsa Verde (serves 2)

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

This vibrant steak supper is a treat that can be pulled off remarkably quickly. For the salsa verde, use a really good quality rapeseed or olive oil as it will make a big difference to your end results.

Ingredients

8 baby potatoes

Sunflower oil, for frying

2 x 200g beef steaks

Salt

Pepper

Large handful of parsley

Large handful of mint

1 tablespoon of capers

2 cornichons

4 tablespoons of rapeseed oil

1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar

To serve

Butter and freshly chopped parsley for the boiled potatoes

Method

1. Put your baby potatoes in boiling water and simmer for about 12 minutes, or until tender. Drain and keep warm until ready to serve.

2. Heat a tablespoon of sunflower oil in a large griddle or frying pan over a high heat. Season your steak with salt and pepper before frying to your liking. I like my steaks medium rare so I fry them for 3 and a half minutes on each side in a really hot frying pan. Then I let it rest in the pan off the heat for another five minutes before slicing.

3. Meanwhile, make your salsa verde by finely chopping the parsley, mint, capers and cornichons. Transfer to a bowl and add the rapeseed oil and red wine vinegar, mixing well.

4. Serve the steak cut into slices with plenty of salsa verde slathered on top. Serve with the boiled potatoes on the side, topped with a dollop of butter and a sprinkling of freshly chopped parsley.

This recipe first appeared in the Irish Independent on January 22^nd