Spice up Italian beef with pesto potatoes | The Honolulu Advertiser

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Spice up Italian beef with pesto potatoes | The Honolulu Advertiser | Hawaii's Newspaper

Posted on: Wednesday, September 20, 2006

TASTE
Spice up Italian beef with pesto potatoes

•	Quantity control

Associated Press

Grilled Italian beef uses the tri-tip roast cut of beef. Serve alone for a low-fat meal or add potatoes with sour cream and pesto.

National Cattlemen's Beef Association via Associat

Here's a dish for a day when the cook is grilling for family or friends and wants beef on the menu. The dish has a light touch of Italian in its use of garlic, pesto and roasted red peppers. The suggested cut of beef is a tri-tip roast, and it's accompanied by grilled potato planks topped with a sour cream-pesto mixture.

Note: The nutrition information shows the tri-tip beef served alone is low-fat. Information is also provided for the beef served with potatoes and sauce, and for the use of sirloin, for those who prefer these options even though they add to the calorie and fat counts.

Here's a briefing on this interesting meat cut:

It's called tri-tip for its triangular shape. It's a lean boneless cut from the bottom of the sirloin, and it's sometimes called bottom sirloin or triangular roast.

It's tender enough not to need marinating for tenderization, and flavorful — but it could be marinated or seasoned with a rub for flavor.

It is best cooked to medium-rare or medium doneness. Keep in mind, the tri-tip is not one thickness throughout and cooking it will result in varying degrees of doneness (the "point" of the triangle is thinner, so that end will be slightly more done than the center).

The tri-tip can be grilled, broiled or roasted in the oven, and, like all roasts, it benefits from standing about 15 minutes after being cooked before being carved. Then carve it across the grain.

From start to finish, this recipe takes about 50 minutes.

GRILLED ITALIAN BEEF TRI-TIP ROAST AND POTATO PLANKS

1 beef tri-tip roast or 1 boneless beef top sirloin steak, cut 1 1/2 inches thick (about 2 pounds)

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 pounds medium all-purpose potatoes, cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick slices

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 cup dairy sour cream

2 tablespoons prepared basil pesto sauce

2 tablespoons chopped roasted red peppers

salt and pepper

Combine garlic with pepper (about 2 teaspoons). Press evenly onto all surfaces of beef roast. Toss potatoes with oil and salt.

Place roast in center of grid over medium, ash-covered coals. Arrange potatoes around roast. Grill tri-tip roast, covered, 25 to 35 minutes (top sirloin steak, covered, 22 to 26 minutes) for medium-rare to medium doneness, turning occasionally.

Grill potatoes 20 to 22 minutes or until tender, turning frequently.

Remove roast when thermometer registers 135 F for medium-rare; 150 F for medium. Tent loosely with aluminum foil; let stand 10 minutes. (Temperature will continue to rise to 145 F for medium-rare; 160 F for medium.)

Combine sour cream and pesto. Carve roast across the grain into thin slices. Season beef with salt, as desired. Top potato planks with sour cream mixture; sprinkle with red peppers. Serve with beef.

Makes 8 servings.

Per serving, tri-tip only, without accompaniments (1/8 of recipe): 161 calories, 7 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 60 mg cholesterol, 48 mg sodium, 1 g carbohydrate, 0.2 g fiber, 23 g protein

Per serving, using tri-tip, with accompaniments (1/8 of recipe): 336 calories, 14 g fat, 5 g saturated fat, 69 mg cholesterol, 101 mg sodium, 26 g carbohydrate, 27 g protein

Per serving, using top sirloin, with accompaniments (1/8 of recipe): 333 calories, 12 g fat, 4 g saturated fat, 58 mg cholesterol, 107 mg sodium, 26 g carbohydrate, 2.9 g fiber, 30 g protein

Recipe developed for The Associated Press by National Cattlemen's Beef Association on behalf of the Beef Checkoff program.

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