Steak sandwich with onion, goats cheese and salsa verde
Dinner / Recipes

Steak Sandwiches With Goats Cheese, Onions & Salsa Verde

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I absolutely love steak sandwiches because I think it opens up the space to be really inventive with a steak. Steak and good bread is such a good base for almost any flavourings, but my personal favourite is this combo with salsa verde, caramelised onions and goats cheese. The onions and steak are both buttery rich, and the salsa verde cuts through that perfectly. For me, goats cheese is the perfect pairing as it adds the soft, creamy texture the sandwich needs but with an added tang. I know goats cheese can be a bit controversial, but I absolutely love it and stand by its use in this sandwich (that being said if you want to sub it for another soft cheese or good mayo I won’t be offended, as long as you let me know how it goes). I’ve also added my top tips for cooking a good steak at the end – not to toot my own horn but I really think I’ve mastered the perfect steak. I get mine caramelised on the outside with loads of butter and garlic, but still pink on the inside. All in all this sandwich really feels like a proper treat dinner – each component is delicious, well made and perfectly balanced.

Steak Sandwiches With Goats Cheese, Onions & Salsa Verde

Serves 2 | 45 mins prep + cooking

Ingredients

2 steaks of your choice or ~500g (I usually go for ribeye – good marbling)

2 white onions

1tbsp olive oil

3tbsp butter

1 batch of my salsa verde

2 large cloves garlic, peeled and squished

60g goats cheese

Ciabatta loaf (or bread of your choice)

Vegetable oil, to cook the steak

Method

  1. A couple of hours before you want to start cooking, remove your steak from the fridge, pat dry with kitchen towel and leave it out to dry and get to room temperature. This will allow you to get a good caramelisation on the steak when you cook it.
  2. Cut off the top & bottom of the onions, peel & chop in half. Finely slice the onions into half moons from side to side, not from top to bottom as this will caramelise better.
  3. Add the olive oil & 1tbsp of the butter to a saucepan and melt over a medium to low heat. When the butter has melted, add in the onions and a big pinch of salt. Stir to coat and put on a lid. Leave this to cook, stirring regularly, for~30mins until soft, jammy and caramelised.
  4. Once the onions are nearly cooked, it’s time to start the steak. Cover the bottom of a cast iron (or other) frying pan with a layer of vegetable oil and heat on high heat until smoking hot. Pat the steak dry one more time, then rub all over with olive oil. Right before you’re ready to add the steak to the pan season both sides generously with salt and pepper.
  5. Add the steaks to the pan, and allow to cook undisturbed for 1-3 minutes. Cooking time will be really variable depending on how you like your steak cooked, the thickness of the steak and your hob. Once cooked to your liking on one side, flip the steaks and add 2 tbsp butter and the garlic. The butter will foam up – use this to baste your steaks for the remaining cooking time.
  6. Once the steaks are cooked, transfer to a chopping board & place the garlic on top. Cover with foil & rest for ~10 mins.
  7. Split the bread in half and toast each side in a dry pan until golden.
  8. Now for assembly, first thinly slice the steak against the grain. Spread the goats cheese on the bottom layer of the bread, top this with the sliced steak and onions. Spread salsa verde on the top layer of the bread and close the sandwich. I like to serve my sandwiches wrapped in foil to prevent structural failure while eating.

My Top Tips for Cooking a Good Steak (from lots of trial and error)

  • Always leave the steak to reach room temperature before cooking
  • Always make sure the steak is very dry before cooking to allow caramelisation to form. Do this by patting with kitchen towel & leaving out before cooking to air dry.
  • Only salt the steak just before cooking, as the salt will draw out moisture undoing all the good drying work you’ve done.
  • Cover the whole base of the pan in oil and leave to get ripping hot before adding the steak. This will allow a caramelised crust to form on the steak
  • If you have a thick fat layer, you’ll need to render this. Using tongues, hold the steak fat side down for about a minute until golden and crispy. Then continue with the cooking process above.
  • Don’t move the steak until it’s time to flip again to allow a good caramelised crust to form.
  • Add butter, garlic & herbs after the first flip and baste to get that flavour into the steak.
  • Rest for about 10mins after cooking, this way the steak will soak up all the juices it releases and stay really moist.
  • Cut against the grain, this will make it easier to bit through in sandwich form.

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