Grilled Beef and Panzanella Salad

, from Issue #14. September, 2015
Photography by Becky Nunes.
Grilled Beef and Panzanella Salad

Serves: 8

INGREDIENTS

4 x porterhouse steaks

Marinade
3 cloves garlic, crushed
zest of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped rosemary
3 tablespoons olive oil

Salad
3 cups torn, crustless sourdough bread
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 large vine tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
2 zucchini, thinly sliced
2 sticks celery, thinly sliced
18 black or green olives
200 grams asparagus or green beans, blanched
¼ cup each basil and flat leaf parsley

Dressing
6 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons whole rosemary leaves
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2-3 tablespoons lime juice
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

METHOD

Whisk the marinade ingredients together and pour over the steaks. Cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.

Return the meat to room temperature before cooking. Preheat a grill plate or barbecue.

Remove any excess marinade from the steak and season both sides.

Grill the sirloin 3 minutes each side for medium rare. Rest for 5 minutes then slice thinly across the grain. Set aside in a shallow dish.

Salad: Preheat the oven to 200ºC.

Toss the bread with the olive oil, season well and spread out on a baking tray. Bake until crisp and golden.

Place the bread in a large bowl and when cool add the remaining salad ingredients and combine.

Dressing: Heat the olive oil in a small pot with the rosemary leaves. Sauté until the rosemary is crisp then cool. Do not strain out the rosemary leaves.

Transfer the oil to a small food processor, add the garlic and lime juice and blend well. Season to taste, adding more lime juice if needed.

To serve: Toss the beef with half the dressing and the salad with the other half. Combine both then pile onto a serving platter.