Grilled Marinated Steak with Salsa Verde Sauce
May 22, 2012 
Are you still buying steaks and just throwing them on the grill? Well, it's time to take your steaks to the next level and marinate them. You won't believe the difference. I get asked a lot what I marinate my steaks in and I'm going to share it with you.
I'm also going to introduce you to a sauce that's used in Italian cooking called salsa verde. It's not like the spicy Mexican version, but is an herb based sharp sauce that is the traditional accompaniment for bollito misto - the Piedmontese dish of boiled meats. I like it very much over grilled steak. It is a raw sauce made with fresh parsley and is simple to whirl up in your food processor. When we had dinner at Perbacco in San Francisco, they brought out breadsticks with salsa verde for dipping and their version was out of this world.
Marcella Hazan has a great little tip about salsa verde that I think is spot on - if the salsa verde is going to be used for beef, you use red wine vinegar in it. If it's going to be used for fish, you use lemon zest. It's a little brighter. I think that's brilliant and that's what I've done in my version.
Grilled Marinated Steak with Salsa Verde Sauce
for a printable recipe click here
note: the steak is best when allowed to marinate overnight
Ingredients:
1 flank steak, about 1-1/2 to 2 pounds
for the marinade:
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/8 cup soy sauce
- 1 clove garlic, minced or 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 cup dry sherry
for the salsa verde:
makes about 1/2 cup
(you can substitute the zest of 1 lemon for the red wine vinegar if using the salsa verde for fish)
- 1 cup packed flat leaf parsley
- 2 anchovy filets
- 2 tablespoon capers packed in salt, rinsed
- 1 garlic clove
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
Instructions:
for the marinade:
Place all ingredients in a gallon size ziplock bag. Add steak and close ziplock, expelling as much air as you can. Refrigerate steak and let it marinate at least overnight.
for the salsa verde:
Place all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth.
Let the steak sit out at room temperature for about a half hour before grilling. Grill the steak until medium rare, about 8 minutes per side, depending on the thickness. Season generously with salt and pepper. Slice and serve with the salsa verde sauce.
Reader Comments (23)
That looks absolutely delicious! I look forward to trying it over the long weekend coming up!! Thank You again!! :-)
You are so right, marinating makes a big difference. Your steak looks juicy and delicious!
meat is hard to photograph, yet your photos are mouth watering!!
Excellent post. I have made a recipe like this using green chimichuri sauce (bobby flay) and it is very tasty. I really like the idea of the use of red wine vinegar.
You might want to point out to your readers that they should not use the actual sauce used to marinate the meat when serving.
I had pretty this same dish at Birreria at Eataly on Friday night! I'm glad to have a recipe for the salsa verde!
I usually marinade my steaks when I buy them, them put them in a zip-top bag and freeze them. They marinate really nicely as they thaw. BTW - your food looks delish! Cheers...
Carla that looks so delicious and will be on the menu for my weekend barbeque.Thank you for all the brilliant recipes you put out there.They all have a little twist and people always comment on my food .Thank you so much.
Just love your recipes and thank you for sharing .i am going to try the steak and salsa at my weekend barbeque.i also love the twists you give your food,and my friends always ask for recipes.Thank you.
can i substitute ribeye for flank steak?
what i meant was can i use ribeye for this recipe instead of flank steak?
From The Italian Dish:
Pamela: You can use any steak you like!
Do you clean the marinade off the meat before grilling?
Elaine will try this recipe for my hubby, I love salsa verde mmm!
Carla x
i will try that at my home........
I made this on Friday night and it was delicious! We also used the salsa verde in an omlet on Saturday morning, and tossed it with veggies for the grill on Sunday. We used the last little bit slathered on corn on the cob. I'll be making this again and again! I did substitute anchovy paste for the anchovies, since I don't keep anchovies in my pantry. This was a perfect use of the overabundance of parsley in my garden!
Can't wait to try this recipe ! Like someone else posted...
do you wipe off he marinade before you grill?
From The Italian Dish:
Stella: No, do not wipe off the marinade - just remove it from the ziplock and marinade and put it right on the grill. Hope this helps!
Sono un cuoco italiano, posso darti un consiglio per migliorare la tua salsa verde?
Aggiungi mezzo panino raffermo, fatto rinvenire in acqua e aceto poi strizzato e frullato insieme al tutto.
Questo dara' sicuramente consistenza alla tua salsa e eviterai il fastidioso effetto " separato " dell olio dagli altri ingrdienti.
Im an italian chef, I suggest you to sop up some bread in water and vinegar and add it to tha other ingredients; then mixed everything with a blender.
In this way the sauce will be thicker and the ingredients will be better blended.
Let me know!!
I love this recipe. Salsa Verde is the perfect accompaniment. I recommend this as one of the various steak sauces at any steak house, bellisimo! Thank you for the post!
Guy Humeniuk
The "salsa" is actually bagnet vert, un piatto tipico di piemontese (along with bagna cauda). Both sets of my grandparents came from Torino, and we made this always on a holiday or special occasion. Luca is correct that the addition of a slice of stale bread (crust cut off) drizzled with a dash of vinegar will indeed give it a nice texture.
i have tried your receipe and believe me they are really really nice and tender thank you
This sounds gorgeous, thanks for putting up this recipe, going to try it some time.
Simon
Brilliant post by Luca Provano! Definitely will use the bread/water/vinegar to thicken the salsa. Thank you Luca :-)