Giuseppina’s Steak with Gorgonzola and Rocket
Giuseppina Castagna runs the Genzianella bar in our village, Villa del Bosco (villa in the woods),
in Piedmont. Anyway, one of my favourite dishes was Giuseppina Castagna’s steak topped with
Gorgonzola, a cheese local to our area. The steak would be medium rare and the Gorgonzola
would be drizzling down the sides, almost making a sauce. Italian Gorgonzola is mild and very
creamy; often the Gorgonzola available in the UK is very strong and firm. This type of mountain
Gorgonzola will overpower and kill the steak, so select your cheese at a speciality cheese shop
or your Italian deli, or buy a good brand like Gim, Igor or Galbani, for example.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
4 boneless steaks of your choice (rump, fillet, sirloin)
olive oil
200 g creamy Gorgonzola, cut into 4 slices
cultivated rocket leaves, washed
balsamic vinegar
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the grill to very hot. Brush the steaks with a little oil but don’t salt them until the
last second as the salt will cause the blood to leak out. Bear in mind that the Gorgonzola will
be slightly salty, so you will not need much salt. Season also with the pepper at this point, then
place the steaks under the grill and cook them according to your taste.
About 1 minute before the steaks are done, top each with a slice of Gorgonzola, thick
enough so that, instead of melting and drizzling away to nothing, some of the cheese will melt
and some will remain whole, but soft and warm and creamy on top.
Serve with a side salad of rocket, drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, which is
sweeter than other vinegars and will accompany the cheese and steak very well.
*taken from the book ‘From Seed to plate’ by Paolo Arrigo, published by Simon and Schuster
