Flat Iron Steaks with Olive Tapenade

Beef flat iron steaks are cooked with fresh rosemary or thyme leaves and served with a delicious olive tapenade made with olives, garlic, anchovies, lemon juice and sun-dried tomatoes.  Perfect cooked on the BBQ or under the grill.

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Serves: 4 people

Ingredients

  • 4 x 175g lean flat iron steaks
  • 2 sprigs fresh thyme or rosemary leaves, roughly chopped
  • 4 teaspoons rapeseed or olive oil
  • For the Tapenade:
  • 50g kalamata black olives, stoned and drained
  • 1 garlic clove, peeled
  • 1-2 anchovies, drained
  • 25g capers in brine, drained
  • 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
  • 25g sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained
  • Juice of ½ lemon

Method

  1. To prepare the tapenade; place the olives, garlic, anchovy, capers, thyme and tomatoes and lemon juice in a processor or blender and process for 1-2 minutes to form a rough paste.
  2. Place the steaks on a chopping board, season and sprinkle with the herbs on and oil on both sides.
  3. Cook on the steaks on a prepared barbecue or under a preheated moderate grill according to your preference (Rare -2 minutes on each side, Medium Rare - 3-4 minutes on each side, Medium - 5-7 minutes on each side). Cover with foil and leave to rest for 5-10 minutes.
  4. Serve the steaks with the tapenade and chunky chips.

Tips:

Flat iron steak is best when cooked to either medium rare or medium. Resting time is crucial. If preferred, replace the flat iron steaks with sirloin, rump or rib-eye steaks and cook according to your preference using the following timings: (Based on a 2cm thick steak): Rare: 2½ minutes on each side Medium: 4 minutes on each side Well done: 6 minutes on each side