Flank Steak Roulade

My peoples, I want to introduce you to my very dear friend. He never fails to impress and everyone wants a piece of him. His style is minimalist yet refined. He smells great and tastes even better, er…OK, enough with the analogy. Flank Steak Roulade is a game changer. It lets you bring the wow factor to the table without being downright arduous. Furthermore, it lends itself perfectly to a culinary imagination since it can be filled with anything that pairs well with steak…blue cheese and bacon; spinach, mushroom, and Swiss…I can go on and on, so I’ll just give you tools to create this roulade and leave the creativity to you. This dish is deceptively easy and once you get the hang of butterflying and tying you will be stuffing flank steaks for every occasion.

• Serves: 6
• Prep time: 25mins (this really depends on skill level)
• Cook time: ~30mins (includes sear and oven time for medium rare)
• Total: Let’s say an hour give or take

Get yourself:

• 1 2lb flank steak
• 1C Asiago grated
• 1C Sharp Provolone grated
• .5C Pecorino Romano grated
• .5 C Seasoned bread crumbs
• 1T Pesto (You can just chiffonade some basil if that’s easier for you; about 2T)
• 1 Clove fresh garlic
• 1-2 Cloves roasted garlic
• 2T Fresh parsley
• 2T olive oil
• s&cracked pep
• Kitchen twine
• A good fillet knife
• A digital meat thermometer
• Meat mallet
• Frying pan to sear the roulade
• Baking dish

Let’s do this!

First things first preheat your oven to 375F

Gather your tools

Get your steak ready

Rinse and pat dry

Trim some of the fat off of both sides

Now it’s time to butterfly this bad boy…

Who’s coming with me?!

(CLICK ON PHOTOS FOR GREATER DETAIL)

Start with the flank steak perpendicular to you and with the thicker side to the left

Press your hand firmly on top of the flank

Pierce the top of the beef and carefully slice downwards

Use your hand as a guide to feel the knife as you slice downwards

At first I only slice a couple of inches into the flank

I repeat these steps until I’ve sliced deep into the flank and it begins to open up

Slice through carefully and the steak will open up like a book

Press down along the center, if it seems too thick then carefully slice to thin it out

If the entire steak is too thick then pound it to 1/4″ thickness with mallet

Guess what homie…

You just butterflied yourself a flank steak!

Boo-yah!

Time for a little massage…

Smash a fresh clove of garlic so it splits open

Rub the garlic on the inside of the beef for flavor

If you don’t have roasted garlic then rub fresh garlic on inside and outside

Otherwise, rub roasted garlic on outside of beef

Fresh in – Roasted out

Grab some of that flavor packin’ pesto and smear it all around

Cover entire surface area

Shred yourself a nice mountain of both cheeses and mix together

Go ahead, eat some…I know you want to.

You ready to stuff, roll, and tie like a champ?!

Spread on the cheese, sprinkle on the breadcrumbs and parsley (or basil if you opted for that)

Crack some pepper on top

Don’t forget the Pecorino Romano!

With the steak long ways, roll up like a jelly roll

Some of the stuffing will try to escape, just stick it back in

Lay roulade seam side down facing long ways

Cut yourself a few feet of butchers twine (better to have more than less)

Tie a knot at the top of the roll

Hold string in left hand and with your right hand slide string under roll

In your left hand you’ll have a loop and the remainder of the string in your right

Take the string in your right hand and feed it through the loop in your left

Pull the string in your right hand down towards the beef to tighten the knot

If the knot is off-center just gently shift the string and re-tighten

Follow the same loop and pull technique down the length of the roulade

Tie off the end with a strong knot

Rub some olive oil, salt, and pepper on the surface

Heat up a frying pan with the 2T of oil

Once the oil starts to smoke quickly add the roulade and sear

You should have a nice dark brown sear all around

Pop the roulade into a baking dish and into the oven

If you have a meat thermometer, pierce it into center of roulade

It’s perfectly cooked to medium rare when internal temp is 140F, ~30mins

Remove from oven and put a foil tent over roulade for 5mins…

this allows the juices to redistribute

(Sorry no pics of this process, but it’s straightforward)

When roulade is done resting…

Snip the long piece of string running the length of the roulade

Slice the roulade into 1.5″ thick portions with twine still wrapped around so it stays together

Bad ass, oozy, cheesy, juicy, tender, flavor packin’ pinwheels

Add the pinwheels back to the baking dish with all of the juices

Ohhh’s & Ahhh’s:

“I feel like I’m eating the greatest meatball evah!”

“OMG, this is so good!”

“Dude, what the heck this is ridiculously delicious!”

“Joe, you Tony Tigered this %&!*, it’s Greeeeat!”

Go make this ASAP. They will nominate you for a James Beard

Thank me later…

Variations:

• Bacon and blue cheese
• Spinach, mushroom, and Gruyère
• Provolone, peppers, and onions
• Slice the roulade into pinwheels before cooking and throw them on the grill
• Marinate the flank in your favorite marinade then stuff