Tre Colore Pesto and Grilled Steak with Prosciutto Wrapped Chile Shrimp and Quick Roasted Tomatoes and Garlic

Tre Colore Pesto and Grilled Steak with Prosciutto Wrapped Chile Shrimp and Quick Roasted Tomatoes and Garlic

What you'll need:

Ingredients for Pesto (see recipes below for amounts)

Basil

Endive

Radicchio (my grocer doesn't carry it, so I wasn't able to include it)

Thyme

Parsley

Pine nuts

Parmesan cheese

Lemon

Salt and Pepper

Ingredients for the main dishes

Flat iron steak or a nice filet (it's really important to get a good cut of meat. You can make this for 1 person or a small crowd, so get however much steak you will need)

EVOO

Salt and Pepper

12 Jumbo Shrimp (this fed my family of 2 adults and 1 child)

Scallions

Fresno pepper, or another kind of mild pepper

Lemon

Ingredients for the quick roasted tomatoes and garlic:

10-12 plum tomatoes

1 head of garlic

EVOO

Salt and Pepper

First and foremost, make sure you preheat your oven to 500 degrees. I always forget to do this and then I have to sit around and wait. The quick roast tomatoes are really easy. Just cut the tomatoes in half length wise and place on a cookie sheet. Place the garlic bulb on the counter tips down and press firmly down to loosen the cloves. Separate the cloves from the bulb but keep the skins on. Throw them onto the sheet as well. Drizzle with EVOO, and sprinkle with Salt and pepper. Toss everything together to coat the tomatoes and garlic. Place the tomatoes cut side down and bake in your preheated over for 20-25 minutes until they look like the tomatoes in the picture below.

Recipes:

Tre Colore Pesto and Grilled Steak with Quick Roasted Tomatoes and Garlic

Ingredients

• Four 7 to-8-ounce flat-iron steaks or filet steaks
• 1 bulb garlic
• 12 plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise
• 3/4 cup EVOO, plus more for drizzling
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 3 tablespoons pine nuts
• 1 cup fresh parsley leaves
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
• 1 head Belgian endive, sliced
• 1/2 head radicchio, chopped
• A handful of fresh thyme sprigs, leaves stripped
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2 small handfuls grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• Ciabatta bread, grilled or warmed in the oven, split and charred or warmed

Directions

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 500 degrees F (or the highest setting).

Bring the steaks to room temperature.

Meanwhile, remove 1 garlic clove from the bulb and finely grate. Remove the other cloves with the skin still intact and spread them on a baking sheet along with the tomatoes. Toss with about 1/4 cup EVOO and season with salt and pepper. Turn the tomatoes cut-side down. Roast until the tomatoes are charred and softened, 20 to 25 minutes. (See my notes below the pictures for this step. I actually followed what Rachael did on her show that featured this recipe, it is easier!)

Lightly toast the pine nuts in a small skillet over medium heat, then remove to a plate to cool.

Combine the parsley, basil, endive, radicchio, thyme, pine nuts, lemon juice and cheese in a food processor. Season with salt and pepper. Pulse until chopped. With the motor running, drizzle in the remaining 1/2 cup EVOO in a slow stream until blended. Transfer the pesto to a serving dish. (Any leftover pesto is delicious on sandwiches or tossed with hot pasta and starchy cooking water.)

Heat a grill pan or heavy griddle over medium-high heat or prepare an outdoor grill.

Drizzle the steaks with EVOO and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill for 3 to 4 minutes, then flip and cook 3 more minutes for medium-rare. Remove to a cutting board and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes.

Place the steaks on serving plates and drizzle with the pesto. Serve the roasted tomatoes, garlic and bread on the side. To eat, squeeze the garlic from the skins and rub onto the bread, then top with the tomatoes.

Prosciutto Wrapped Chile Shrimp with Green Onions

• Ingredients

  3 tablespoons EVOO
• 4 scallions, white parts finely chopped and green parts thinly sliced on an angle
• 1 Fresno chile, finely chopped, or 1 1/2 teaspoons ground red pepper
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 16 jumbo shrimp, tails on and deveined
• 16 thin slices prosciutto

Directions

Heat a grill or grill pan to medium.

Combine the EVOO, scallion whites, chile and lemon juice in a medium bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add the shrimp and toss to coat. Wrap each shrimp with a slice of prosciutto.

Grill the shrimp until firm and opaque, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a serving platter and garnish with the scallion greens and another squeeze of lemon juice.

These little baby's were super easy!

Reviews:

I was a little disappointed in this meal. I was pretty excited about making it, and I think I psyched myself up too much. First, It is crucial to get a good cut of meat. We got Flat steak at the recommendation of the meat person because she said it was as close to flat iron steak as possible (which they do not carry). The meat was very grisly and chewy and just not good. I like a steak to melt in my mouth and this one gave my jaw a workout trying to chew most of the pieces.

Second, the pesto was not great. It could be my fault for a few reasons, but I don't know. I highly recommend investing in a large food processor after this recipe. I have a small one, and it took me 4-5 batches to get everything chopped up. I had little pieces of basil, thyme, parsley and endive flying everywhere and I was VERY frustrated at the end of it all. Plus, I don't think the texture was right, which was probably because I didn't have the right equipment to make this crap in the first place! This particular pesto called for Radicchio, which is a type of lettuce that is a bit spicy. My grocery stores don't carry it, so I omitted it, which may have been the "key" ingredient in this pesto. I also did not care for the taste of the Pesto itself.... It didn't have that garlic-y Italian flavor I am used to and I was not fond of the texture.

Third, my family is not big on tomatoes. Period. I didn't really think it through very well. I saw Rachael Ray make this on her "30 minute meals" and it looked so delicious, I just decided to make it, and I followed the recipe (pretty closely anyway). If you like tomatoes, you will love these bad boys. They are easy, and come out tender and juicy. Next time, I'll skip the tomatoes and make some other kind of roast veggies (Love me some roasted veggies!).

The shrimp was amazing, although it is pretty salty. My entire family (minus the EinCAKE) loved the shrimp. They were quick to put together and grill up in just a few minutes.

All in all, this is a keeper. I will have to make some adjustments, but it is a good recipe to tweak. I'll be sure to get a good cut of meat, make a regular pesto sauce (with that new food processor I will be getting) and swap out those tomatoes for some other delicious veggie.