recipe
Bistecchina balsamic sandwich
This steak sandwich is perfect for a supper or lunch, especially when cooked and shared with a special buddy. It’s replete with Italian heroes and some nostalgia. I’m always chasing the perfect steak sandwich – it’s not something you just can throw together from the pantry. Planning is key to pulling this off effortlessly.
A trio of sharp Italian melting cheeses, bitter greens, succulent steak and balsamic vinegar are the base, and there are a few tweaks along the way.
Dust the steak in flour before searing it – this helps develop a fine crust that absorbs the balsamic – and make sure it remains a little juicy and is just pink.
The salty rich melt of the cheeses is a sauce in itself, so no mayo or mustard is required. Add zing with a touch of shaved raw onion, which beautifully foils the sweet richness of the deglazed balsamic vinegar.
If you want to enhance your experience even further, feel free to make some hand-cut chips for extra indulgence.
Makes 2 generous sandwiches
Time: 15 minutes preparation + cooking
- 4 thick slices of pasta dura-style bread in long slices
- 4 full slices provolone dolce
- 4 slices of stracchino or fontina cheese
- 4 slices parmigiano reggiano
- extra virgin olive oil
- flaked salt and black pepper
- 2 x 150-200g thin slices of rump steak
- 3 tbsp plain flour
- flaked salt
- black pepper
- 80-100ml of balsamic vinegar
- white salad onion, finely shaved
- 2 handfuls curly endive or large rocket leaves
- 8 basil leaves
- cornichons or salty pickled gherkins or fefferoni to fill and garnish
- Lightly toast the bread in a sandwich press and then top one side with the cheese, layering the provolone dolce, stracchino and parmigiano. Oil and season and then toast again until the cheeses melt and blend.
- While that’s happening, heat a medium-sized frypan over medium-high heat.
- Dust the steak with flour. Add a generous splash of oil to the pan and fry the meat. Season with salt and pepper and caramelise one side very well for two minutes, then flip the steak and cook the other side for one minute.
- Set the steak aside and deglaze the pan using half the balsamic. Pull the pan off the heat and it will continue to bubble and reduce. Add the rest of the vinegar. Pour the pan juices over the steak.
- Take the cheesy sandwich from the press and split it open. Add the steak to the cheesiest side and top with the shaved onion. Add the curly endive (or rocket) and basil to the other side along with some sliced pickle.
- Drizzle over some oil and flip the green side on top of the steak. Press down and skewer. Extra napkins are essential.
This article was first published in the print edition of The Saturday Paper on November 8, 2025 as "Steak holder".
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