Skirt steak with chimichurri

This dish reminds me of standing around a barbecue in Sydney’s Eastern suburbs with a group of South American friends. Food was the centre of conversation and we would all stand around the barbecue while one of us cooked. Peter Kuruvita's Coastal Kitchen

• serves

  6

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

The meat was always served with a fresh and beautiful chimichurri sauce. Skirt steak is now a bit more expensive but still a treat. It is all in the way you slice it – against the grain is a must.

Ingredients

• 2 kg skirt steak
• 50 ml olive oil 
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Chimichurri sauce

• 1 bunch coriander, rinsed well
• ½ bunch flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked
• 1 tbsp chilli flakes, or to taste
• 4 garlic cloves
• 30 ml lemon juice
• 200 ml olive oil

Resting time: 5 minutes

Instructions

Preheat a barbecue until smoking, then reduce the heat to medium.

Meanwhile, to make the chimichurri sauce, place all the ingredients in a mortar and pestle or blender and process until coarse paste forms. It should resemble a rough pesto. Season with salt and pepper.

Lightly drizzle the skirt steak with oil, then season well with salt and pepper. Cook the steak on the barbecue for 5 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness of the beef. If you have a digital cooking thermometer, the internal temperature should be around 55˚C. Remove from the grill and rest in a warm place for 5 minutes.

To serve, thinly slice the skirt steak against the grain and serve with lashings of chimichurri sauce.

Peter Kuruvita's Coastal Kitchen airs 8pm, Thursdays on SBS and then you can catch-up on SBS On Demand. Visit the program page for recipes, videos and more.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

The meat was always served with a fresh and beautiful chimichurri sauce. Skirt steak is now a bit more expensive but still a treat. It is all in the way you slice it – against the grain is a must.