I thought I would try one of Jamie Oliver’s The Power Of Five recipes and, as Husband very keen on both beef and pesto, Italian Seared Beef was the recipe I chose. This is more of a slightly warm salad, but it was an instant hit. In fact, I have served this twice in just over a week because it was so popular. The second time I added some halved cherry tomatoes which worked well. This is definitely going to be one of my regular recipes.

Italian Seared Beef

Ingredients serves 2

1 tbsp pine nuts
250g rump steak
2 heaped tsp green pesto
40g rocket
15g Parmesan cheese

How to prepare
Using a large non stick frying pan on a high heat, toast the pine nuts, tossing every now and again, and remove when golden (keep an eye on them as they suddenly catch).
Cut the fat off the rump steak. Chop it finely and put it in the pan to render and crisp up. Cut the sinew off the rump and season with sea salt and pepper. Place meat between two sheets of greaseproof paper and bash to 1cm thickness with a rolling pin (which also tenderises the steak).
Scoop out the crispy bits of fat and put to one side. Sear the steak in the hot pan for 1 minute until golden but blushing in the middle. Remove to a board and let it rest for a minute or two.
Spread the pesto over a sharing platter. Thinly slice the steak at an angle and place the strips on the pesto. Pile the rocket on top and scatter the pine nuts and crispy fat over. Mix the steak’s resting juices with 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and drizzle over. Shave over a generous helping of the Parmesan.

Jamie Oliver’s 5 Ingredients cookbook:

Like beef? Try this quick and tasty Thai beef recipe