It all started with the parsley. I came back from vacation and my herb pots were practically exploding with the most perfect, ready to eat parsley. But what to do with it all? I searched out a few options and decided to make a pesto. I whipped up this recipe from Serious Eats, and I have to say, the pesto is so beyond spectacular that I renamed the recipe to put the pesto first. Don’t get me wrong, it goes great with the flank steak, but it would be amazing with pasta, vegetables, on bread, and just straight up with a spoon!
You start with the amazing ingredients above. I used raw, unsalted pistachios, and toasted them for 10 minutes at 350° to bring out their full aroma and flavour. This is an important step not noted in the original recipe, although it did call for roasted nuts. Personally I think roasting them just before blending makes for deeper flavours.
Close up of the finished pesto. The parsley and mint get a nice lift from the lemon juice, and then the Parmesan just takes it all up a notch adding a nuanced nutty flavour that compliments the toasted pistachios so well.
Next, on to prepping the marinade for the steak (actually do this first, as you want to marinate the flank steak at least 4 hours before grilling). It’s pretty quick to chop everything up to prep this. I ran out of large ziplock bags, so I spread the steak out on a plate, and spread the marinade all over it, before folding it into a glass baking dish and popping it into the fridge. Another note: I like to score my flank steaks lightly on the diagonal, to help the marinade soak in. It also makes for nice looking lines after it has been grilled as the lines will show nice and golden. Do this just before you coat the steak with the marinade.
The way the juices gather in the score lines—drool inducing!
The final product—remember to slice the meat against the grain. You will want to dip everything on your plate into that pesto (and lick the plate). Get the recipe here.
Tim says
Speaking first hand this is outstanding. The flank steak with the pesto is unbelievable.