You know those meals you dream up that you’re ridiculously excited to make because you just know it’s going to be delicious? Yeah, this was one of those for me. I could hardly wait to start cooking!
Now, before you hardcore Paleo-ites string me up by my toes in the town square, I do realize potatoes are one of those controversial items in the Paleo world. Some say eat them in moderation, every once in a while.. some say never, ever, ever – I was craving potatoes with this, so I went with it. To each his own!
STUFFED FLANK STEAK AND SMASHED POTATOES
The ingredients!
- 1.5-2 lbs flank steak
- 1 1/2 cups chopped fresh spinach
- 1/2 cup feta cheese (optional)
- 1 8oz container mushrooms, sliced
- 1/2 cup onion, chopped
- 2 roasted red peppers (I used the jarred kind)
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 egg
- 2 TBSP almond meal
- 1 tsp garlic powder, divided
- Salt
- Pepper
- Olive oil
- Cooking twine
POTATOES:
- 6 small red potatoes
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Olive oil
- 3 leaves fresh basil
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- Salt
- Pepper
First, preheat your oven to 425 and line a cookie sheet with foil. Set aside. Slice your mushrooms and chop your onion & garlic. Saute in a tsp or 2 of olive oil until JUST tender.
Be careful to not overcook the mushrooms, since you’ll be baking them inside of the steak for another 40 min!
Coarsely chop your spinach & red pepper into smaller pieces and add to a medium sized mixing bowl.
I tossed in a few chopped fresh basil leaves too, but that’s an optional step!
Add the cooked mushroom mix, feta cheese, egg & almond meal to the bowl. Sprinkle with 1 tsp salt & gently mix together.
You could use this filling for almost anything! Perfect blend of flavors!
Next, carefully slide your knife lengthwise through the flank steak. Go slowly to make sure you’re cutting it into 2 separate pieces.
I found it easiest to hold the steak tight with one hand and slowly move the knife through with the other.
It should look like this when you’re done:
Because I got a 2 lb flank steak, I ended up cutting it all the way through into 2 separate pieces.
Place 1/2 of the filling mixture on top of each piece of flank steak and spread it out. Carefully roll each piece up and secure with at least 4 lengths of cooking twine (it can be found at any grocery store).
Try to keep as much of the filling inside as possible!
Drizzle olive oil over the top and sprinkle each with 1/2 tsp garlic powder, salt and pepper.
The twine will help hold everything together while it cooks!
Roast in the oven for 40 minutes or until desired color. The bigger of the 2 rolls was still a little pink when it came out, which, of course, my husband loved. So the cooking time will really just depend on your preference!
While the steak is cooking, boil your potatoes in a pot of water until very tender.
You can add a little bit of salt to help the water boil faster!
Line another cookie sheet with foil and drizzle olive oil over the potatoes
We purposely made extra potatoes for leftovers the next day
Using a fork or some other kind of spatula etc, smash the potatoes until they look like this. It usually took just one good smash.
Who doesn’t love potatoes?? ;)
Drizzle more olive oil on top of the potatoes and sprinkle with salt, pepper, rosemary & basil. Bake at 375 for 12-14 minutes or until they start to get crispy edges. Squeeze the lemon juice over the potatoes once you pull them out of the oven.
The smell was unbelievable at this point!! Soo yummy
Remove the pieces of twine from around the steak and using a sharp or serrated knife, slice into 1in slices.
The finished product!
Mmmm….
My husband took one bite of this and said, “Is your name Babe Ruth, cuz you just hit a hooooooome run… AND you’re a babe.” Uhh, have I mentioned lately how much I love that man? You really, truly do. not. even. know!
Okay, sappiness overload done, back to the recipe! Seriously though – this was the PERFECT blend of flavors. The combination of the filling was so full of flavor, but not overwhelming – it went so well with the potatoes! I can’t wait for y’all to try this one – you have let me know how it turns out for ya!
theculturedcavewoman.wordpress.com 