Steakhouse Salad With Pesto Vibes
This dinner salad plays fast and loose with three elements: a steakhouse steak salad, pesto, and tagliata (the Italian combo of sliced grilled steak, arugula, lemon, and shaved Parmesan). The result is crunchy, bright, hearty, garlicky, salty, familiar—but entirely new and fun too. The star is a browned and crusty medium-rare steak; to get there with ease, turn the steak every minute (really!). You can also grill the steak using the same technique, but during the first few turns, let the steak release naturally from the grate instead of prying it off.
Instead of blitzing nuts, Parmesan, basil, garlic, and oil into a smooth pesto, the nuts and garlic are chopped together for a rich and crunchy sauce (sort of like a garlicky, nutty French aillade); the Parmesan curls on top like in tagliata; and the basil gets promoted to salad green. By separating and dispersing pesto’s components throughout the salad, each bite is loud, punchy, and different from the next, which is all we really want from a salad, isn’t it? —Ali Slagle
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What you’ll need
Cast Iron Skillet
$30 At Amazon
Tongs
$18 $14 At Amazon
Microplane Fine Grater
$20 At Amazon
Bamboozle 7-Piece Nesting Bowls
$80 At Amazon
Kuhn Rikon Original Swiss Peeler 3-Pack
$16 At Amazon
Recipe information
Yield
4 servings
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Toast ½ cup raw pine nuts or walnuts in a small dry skillet over medium-low heat, tossing often, until golden brown, 4–6 minutes. Let cool.
Step 2
Generously season 2 boneless New York strip or rib-eye steaks (at least 1" thick; about 1½ lb. total), patted dry, with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Rub steaks all over with 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil. Heat a dry medium cast-iron skillet over medium-high. When just smoking, place steaks in skillet, standing them up on their fat caps with tongs, and cook until browned, about 2 minutes. Turn steaks onto a flat side and cook, turning over every minute, until browned underneath and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 125° for medium-rare, 10–15 minutes. Transfer steaks to a cutting board and let rest 10 minutes.
Step 3
Meanwhile, finely chop pine nuts, 3 garlic cloves, and ½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt together on a cutting board. Transfer to a small bowl and finely grate in zest of 1 lemon; set lemon aside. Add remaining ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil and mix well; season sauce with salt and pepper.
Step 4
Cut reserved lemon in half. Toss 4 heads of Little Gem lettuce or 2 heads of romaine lettuce, leaves torn into bite-size pieces if large, and 2 cups basil leaves in a large bowl. Add half of pine nut sauce and squeeze in juice from a lemon half. Toss greens with your hands to coat. Taste and add more lemon juice and season with salt if needed. (Salad should taste bright and flavorful.) Transfer salad to a platter or plates.
Step 5
Thinly slice steaks against the grain and arrange over salad. Using a vegetable peeler, shave 1½ oz. Parmesan over steak and salad. Serve with remaining sauce alongside.
