Bavette steak with salsa verde a delicious dish that all the family will enjoy. A great cut of beef that’s quick to cook and packed full of flavour.
Bavette steak with salsa verde is a simple steak dish that is packed full of flavour. We served this bavette steak and salsa verde at our recent Supperclubs and all our guests enjoyed the dish. Many of them had not eaten this cut before but they all agreed that it was full of flavour. We decided to serve it with an Italian marinade of balsamic vinegar, garlic, oregano and black pepper. Prior to serving to our guests we experimented with 24 and 48 hour marinating times. After taste testing we both agreed that the 48 hour marinate made a huge difference to the finished dish and was definitely worth the extra time in preparation.
How to cook and slice bavette steak:
Bavette steak is also known as flank or skirt steak. It’s a lean cut of steak but one that’s full of meaty flavour. However, key to enjoying this cut of steak is how you cook and cut it! Firstly, bavette should be cooked to either rare (internal temp 45-47C) or medium rare (50-52C). If you cook this cut any further it will be too chewy and tough to eat. Once cooked, as with all steaks, it’s essential that you rest the meat for at least 5 minutes before cutting and serving.
The second rule to cooking and enjoying bavette steak is how you cut it! It is important that when cutting bavette steak that you slice across the grain of the meat as this breaks down the muscle making it tender to eat. If you cut it any other way you will have a very chewy piece of meat. However, follow these two simple instructions and you’ll have a lovely piece of steak.
Alternative methods of cooking the steak:
We have used a barbecue to cook these steaks as we like the smokiness that this method of cooking adds to the dish. However, if cooking indoors on the stove top simply get the frying pan searingly hot. Once the pan has reached temperature add some oil and fry the steaks in the pan, turning only once during the cook. Rest the steak as you normally would before serving.
Preparing the Salsa Verde:
We have not used a food processor to prepare the salsa verde. Instead we cut the ingredients using a knife. This gives a rougher texture to the salsa, as you don’t want too smooth puree-like sauce. The red wine vinegar can be substituted for some lemon juice if you would prefer, just balance the acid with the other ingredients. Certainly if serving a salsa verde with fish I would always substitute with lemon juice. Some anchovies can be used alongside the capers to add a salty element to the salsa. Just cut back on the capers and add gradually, you don’t want an overly salty salsa verde.
Some other serving suggestions:
We have served bavette steak with salsa verde. However, we also added a smoked pepper puree to the dish for our Supperclub. This addition elevated the dish to another level adding a complexity of flavours to the plate. We roasted our own peppers and cooked them with thyme leaves (remove any woody stalk), black pepper and a little vegetable stock. Once soft and cooked through we blitzed together to make a puree. Just ensure you drain off any excess liquid before blitzing together. You can add more in if the puree is too thick, but it’s more difficult to take away. While we roasted the peppers, you could also use some ready roasted and skinned peppers from a jar. However, ensure you wash them thoroughly to remove any oil or vinegar.
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Other recipes to try:
If you liked this recipe then try our Skirt Steak with a Warm Spice Marinade, our Skirt Steak with Chimichurri or our Sirloin Steak with Lemongrass, or our Sirloin Steak with Mushroom & Madiera Sauce.
Our thanks to Donald Russell Butchers, who gifted us the bavette steak for use in this recipe.
Bavette Steak with Salsa Verde
Ingredients
- 720 g bavette steak - 4 steaks, each weighing 180g
- 200 ml balsamic vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic - crushed
- 1 tbsp fresh oregano leaves - chopped
- 1 tsp crushed black pepper
Salsa Verde
- 60 g fresh basil leaves - chopped
- 50 g fresh parsley leaves - chopped
- 1 tbsp capers - drained and finely chopped
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- black pepper
Instructions
- To marinate the steak, place the balsamic vinegar, garlic, oregano and black pepper in a large based dish and mix to combine. Place the 4 steaks (each weighing 180g) into the marinade and ensure they are covered with the mix. Cover the steaks and place in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours, but ideally for 48 hours. Turn the steaks and mix them in the marinade regularly over the course of the 48 hours to ensure even coverage. When ready to cook remove the steaks from the fridge 30 minutes prior to cooking.
Salsa Verde
- To make the salsa verde, place all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well to combine. Check for taste and seasoning. Add more olive oil to the salsa if required to achieve a good consistency. Set aside until ready to serve.
- When ready to cook remove them from the marinade and brush off any garlic or oregano that may have stuck to the meat as this will only burn when cooked at a high temperature.
- Place the steaks to cook over a hot barbecue grill and cook for 2 minutes on the first side. Then turn and cook for another 1-2 minutes on the second side. Cook to rare and no further than medium-rare. Any further with this cut of meat and it will be tough. Cook till you reach an internal temperature of 47C. Take off the heat and set aside to rest for 5-10 minutes.
- Once the steak has rested, cut into slices across the grain of the meat. Serve immediately on a warm plate and place a dish of salsa verde on the side. This allows everyone to add salsa to their own taste.
Jacqui Bellefontaine
This recipe sounds delicious . Ive not heard ot Bavette Steak before although I do know flank/skirt which is a cut I like to use for steak pies so Im really I am really interested to try this as a steak.
Lesley
Thank you Jacqui. It’s a great cut and tastes delicious. You just have to be careful to cook it medium rare and slice across the grain. This is one of my favourite cuts, definitely worth a try. Lesley x
louise Gunstone
I love this post. I’m such a big fan of simple dishes and this is perfect. But what I also love is using cheaper cuts and if you know how to prepare them, then you can have an amazing meal. This tells you how to do it and importantly, how to cut it 🙂
Lesley
Thank you Louise, I agree totally with you. I love using cheaper cuts, they’ve often so much flavour, you just need to know how to cook it. Lesley x