Ottolenghi “Simple” recipe: Harissa and beef sirloin with pepper and lemon sauce
Simple is the book I cook from most—i have many favorites. I have grown to trust Ottolenghi’s flavor combinations. I don’t really like bell peppers, but I just KNEW this would make them taste good. I love the flavor of preserved lemon, and the book has many recipes that include it.
The “sauce” is really more of a full veggie side, and it tasted really good alone or with a bite of the steak. The recipe calls for a can of canned tomatoes, which is another ingredient I love cooking with. The technique for the bell peppers in this recipe is a bit labor-intensive: you broil them whole (i had to turn them 3 times over ~25 mins), to be able to then remove the skins easily. I wonder if removing the cores/seeds before broiling would work…or if it would dry out the peppers too much. Removing the slimy seeds from the broiled peppers was slightly annoying.
As for the steak—if I make this again, I might make a simple rose harissa sauce to drizzle on at the end rather than a marinade. I am not an expert at cooking steak, but they usually turn out pretty good when I sear them dry. I want to make the pepper/tomato/lemon “sauce” again as a side for rotisserie chicken or some salmon. I think it would work with canned roasted red peps if I’m pressed for time but want to taste these awesome flavors again!
Edit: the recipe calls for a can of DICED tomatoes :)