I’m excited to say that this post is a part of the monthly link up party Our Growing Edge. This event aims to connect food bloggers and inspire us to try new things! This month is hosted by Jordan and Cindy at My Daughter and I .

Let me start off by saying that this is one of my favorite meat dishes I’ve ever made; it’s easy, super tasty, and unbelievably photogenic 😉 I was perusing Pinterest, and a beautiful meat dish caught my eye. It was a spiraled flank steak roast and it was glorious. I knew I had a nice-sized flank steak in the freezer, but the recipe called for a roasted red bell pepper paste and blue cheese. A) I’m not a huge fan of red bell pepper, and B) Even if I were a fan, I didn’t have any bell peppers or blue cheese available. So, being that I was already inspired, I improvised and made a spinach, garlic, and mushroom stuffing for the flank steak… and I have to say, I’m pretty confident I made a solid choice 😁

This is a great dish to make when having people over- it comfortably serves 4. It is pretty simple to make (the cooking is relatively fool-proof, since you’re just roasting), but it makes for an impressive presentation. It also doesn’t hurt that its incredibly tasty!

Spinach-Stuffed Flank Steak

Ingredients:

1 Flank Steak (1 1/2-2 lbs)

1 package frozen chopped spinach (thawed)

2 tbsp seasoned breadcrumbs

1 tsp minced garlic

1/4 cup chopped mushrooms

1.4 cup chopped onion

1 tbsp butter

1 egg yolk

1/2 cup Ricotta cheese

2 Tbsp Parmesan Cheese

1 tsp garlic salt (or 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp garlic powder)

3/4 tsp pepper

Olive Oil

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees F.

2. Lay steak on work surface. Holding sharp knife parallel to work surface and starting at a long side, slice flank steak in half to opposite long side, without cutting all the way through; open up the steak like a book. Flatten slightly to an even thickness.

3. In a small pan, sauté chopped onions, garlic, and mushrooms for a few minutes until garlic is fragrant.

4. Cook your frozen chopped spinach in a pot with 1/4 inch deep water and about a tsp salt (should take 5 min or so). Squeeze liquid from spinach; discard liquid. In medium-size bowl, combine spinach, cheeses, garlic and mushroom mixture, bread crumbs, egg yolk, 1/4 teaspoon each of the garlic salt and the pepper.

5. Season both sides of the steak with the remaining garlic salt and pepper. Press filling onto steak, leaving a 1-inch border on all sides. Roll up steak to enclose filling, beginning on a short side; the grain of the meat will be running from left to right (once the steak is rolled, the grain should be running length-wise to ensure its tenderness!).Tuck any loose filling back into ends.

6. Tie steak with cooking twine at 2-inch intervals to secure, or pin it closed with toothpicks/short skewers. drizzle the steak with olive oil.

7. Roast at 425 degrees F for 25 minutes, then increase heat to broil and broil for 5 minutes. Let meat rest 15 minutes. Remove twine, slice and serve.

The pesto tomatoes were really simple: just a handful of halved grape tomatoes and about 1 tsp pesto. (See my pesto recipe here).

I like to make my pesto in bulk, and then freeze it in a small ice cube tray for later use in salads, pastas, marinades, or to kick up the flavor of rice! I added about a tbsp of my pesto to the wild rice I made, too, and it really made a difference in flavor.

Definitely give these recipes a try. I can’t wait to make the dish again!