Provolone and Arugula-Stuffed Flank Steak

The Woman's Day Version. Photo: Kat Teutsch

My version. Finally a picture that turned out good.

This sounds delicious--I love provolone, arugula, and steak. I'll replace the flank steak with ribeye because I have 1/4 cow in my freezer, but hopefully it doesn't loose anything by that substitution. Even Lila is excited--"YAY! Steak!" I haven't told her about the cheese and lettuce stuffing yet. Crossing my fingers that doesn't come back to bite me.

Provolone and Arugula Stuffed Flank Steak

Woman's Day Online, November 2014
Active time: 25 minutes           Total time: 30 minutes         Level: Easy
Serves: 4        Cost per serving: $4.07
Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lb flank steak
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 package baby arugula
• 1/4 lb very thin sliced deli provolone
• Kosher salt and pepper
• 3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 pt cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 small red onion
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp olive oil

The grocery store didn't have plain arugula, so I got baby spring mix (it was the closest I could get). I'll pick the arugula out to stuff the steak and have a spring mix salad on the side. I also have a pint of cherry tomatoes I picked from my garden yesterday, which look so much juicier than the ones I buy in the store. I really need to go to the farmers market some weekend and buy super fresh produce for these recipes. Every year I say I'm going to go, but it never happens. I also have some fresh green beans I can make as a second side dish. I also feel like this could use a carb (steak and potatoes anyone?). The meals in this plan tend to leave out a food group pretty regularly. I might do a grilled potato or possibly cornbread on the side. We will see!

Directions:

1. Heat the grill to medium-high. Butterfly the steak: cut it in 1/2 horizontally (not all the way through) and open it like a book.
2. Rub the garlic over the instead of the steak. Scatter 1 heaping c. arugula over the steak, then lay the cheese on top. Roll up the steak and tie with kitchen twine. Season with 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper.
3. Grill the steak, covered, turning occasionally and brushing with the vinegar, 15-18 minutes for medium rare. Let rest at least 5 minutes before slicing.
4. In a large bowl, toss the tomatoes and onion with the lemon juice, oil, and 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper. Toss with remaining arugula; serve with steak.

I ended up not butterflying the steak (a little difficult with the ribeye I got out of the freezer) and instead pounded it out with my fist like pizza dough. This actually worked really well. I also discovered that my kitchen twine went MIA in the move. I used toothpicks instead, which worked only OK. When you flipped the steak, some of the insides started to fall out so I had to reposition the steak and it ended up medium rare on one side and medium well on the other. This didn't really bother me, Lila tends to like her steak on the well done side.

I didn't make the green beans, but I did mix up some honey cornbread muffins. I could say they were homemade and delicious, but that would be a lie. I made cornbread homemade for most of my life but never particularly liked it. Then I tried the Krusteaz honey cornbread mix and will never make homemade again. It is way more delicious than any other recipe I've tried and super easy, so I always have a box in the cupboard. 

I didn't have a ton of arugula so one of the steaks was just cheese and the other was both. I think we all enjoyed it, even Olaf (our Saint Bernard) enjoyed his small piece. The steak turned out really good. I wasn't sure about having basically lettuce inside of it, but it didn't give a whole lot of flavor or crunch (which I wouldn't have liked anyway). I should have used more provolone though (I used 3 thin sliced pieces per steak).

Tips: Use the flank steak if you want to butterfly, a ribeye is not made to butterfly. Make sure you have kitchen twine, toothpicks were not very convenient. Plus I left one in and almost fed it to Andy. I'm pretty sure I didn't season the steak with salt and pepper, but it was still delicious.

Verdict? Taste of Day Success!