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Ingredients

Method

  • STEP 1

    Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Place the hazelnuts in a baking tray, then toast in the oven for 5-10 mins until golden (you can roast the garlic for the mash at the same time). Leave the nuts to cool a little. Put the cooled nuts, chilli, 50g of the watercress, 1½ tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp balsamic and some seasoning in a food processor, then blitz until finely chopped. The mixture shouldn’t be too smooth – there should still be some texture to the nuts. Set aside.

  • STEP 2

    Heat a griddle pan until smoking hot. Rub the steaks with a little oil, then season both sides with salt. Cook the steaks on the griddle for 2 mins on each side – this will give you medium rare (cook for 3 mins for medium or 4 mins for well done, if you prefer). Remove from the griddle, then sit on a plate for 5 mins to rest. Stir any juices from the resting steak into the pesto – they’re delicious and shouldn’t be wasted.

  • STEP 3

    To serve, divide the Roasted garlic mash (recipe, below) between 2 plates, top with a little watercress, then sit a steak across it. Top the steaks with a large tbsp of the pesto and drizzle the rest of the balsamic over.

RECIPE TIPS
CHOOSING STEAK

If you buy

beef that has been aged for at least 21 days,

it will have greater depth of flavour and be

more tender. Look for steaks with a yellow

tinge to the fat. This indicates that the cattle

have been grass- and not grain-fed, which

gives the meat a richer taste. There should

also be a good marbling of fat throughout

the flesh, which will add flavour and help

to keep the meat juicy during cooking.

ROASTED GARLIC MASH

Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4.

Place 3 large, unpeeled garlic cloves in a shallow tray. Roast for 20-30 mins until skin is

yellowed and cracked. (This can be done

at the same time as the hazelnuts for the

pesto.) Meanwhile, boil 400g potatoes, peeled and cut, for

15-20 mins until tender. Drain and mash

with 85g butter and 3 tbsp milk, then season well. Squeeze garlic

flesh from skin and stir through

the mash.

KNOW-HOW

When griddling meat and vegetables,

always oil the food and not the pan.

This will ensure that there is no excess

oil to drip between the ridges of the griddle

and burn, which will taint your food and

create a lot of smoke.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, May 2009

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