Roast Picanha with Sautéed Potatoes and Chimichurri

“Just call it the rump cap. It’s easier”

Of course with my adventure to Smithfield Market I had to do a meat-focused dish and this recipe aims to celebrate a cut known as “picanha”.

While we were contemplating what to buy at the market we asked what this cut behind the glass was and found out it was connected to what we would know as the rump. Furthermore, we discovered picanha is a popular Brazilian cut that is known to be cooked whole and then sliced thinly.

I wanted to keep it simple with my first time using picanha and so I simply chose to roast it with salt and pepper. The added bite would come in the form of homemade chimichurri which I feel is almost like a dressing that is more suitable to celebrate a rather unknown piece of meat here than if I were to use a thick, sauce-like gravy.

After rubbing the meat with salt, pepper and oil, it gets transferred to the oven where it will finish the rest of the cooking process. This gives plenty of time to prepare the other elements which I have also kept simple in their methods.

There’s many variations in this Argentinean sauce but the base ingredients tend to be parsley, oregano, garlic, oil and red wine vinegar. It’s a nice fresh tasting accompaniment to meat. I chose to be lazy and used the food processor to do the hard work until I reached the consistency I wanted. You can of course not be lazy like me and prepare this by hand.

The sautéed potatoes were a nice choice for me personally, not just because I like sautéed potatoes but rather because they are par-boiled first. This gave me a quick side dish I could finish off while I was still discovering the cooking time required for the meat. If I had gone with my original idea of roast potatoes I was most likely going to place them in the oven at the incorrect time. Besides, you can’t have enough garlic and butter.

Very much a simple dish but I believe that it’s a good way to show off what I was told by the butchers as a bit of an unknown cut here in the UK. A cut that is less expensive and still tastes great.

Ingredients                                                                      Costings

Picanha

• 1.3kg picanha                                                           -£8.84
• 2tbps cooking oil                                                    ~
• 2tbps sea salt                                                           ~
• 2tbps black pepper – cracked                           ~

Chimichurri

• A bunch of parsley – finely chopped             -£1.15
• 2tsp dried oregano                                              -£0.20
• 2tbps coriander finely chopped                     -£0.32
• 4 garlic cloves – crushed                                    -£0.12
• 1tbps dried chill flakes                                       -£0.08
• 3tbps red wine vinegar                                       -£0.51
• 6tbps olive oil                                                        -£0.32

Sauteed Potatoes

• 750g baby potatoes                                             -£1.00
• 2tbps olive oil                                                         -£0.05
• 2 knobs of butter                                                   ~
• 2 garlic cloves – crushed                                    -£0.06
• 1tbps parsley – finely chopped                        -£0.10

 

Total Cost for 4 Servings (*at least) ~ £12.22 (£3.06 each)

*you’ll definitely get some nice sandwiches for lunch the next day.

Method

Picanha

1. Preheat the oven to 160C Fan.
2. Rub the cooking oil, sea salt and black pepper over the picanha.
3. Lightly oil a frying/griddle pan and place on a medium-high heat.
4. Place the picanha fat side down into the pan for approximately 5 minutes until it starts to colour. Lower the heat and colour the other sides for approximately 1-2 minutes. (Adjust the heat accordingly during this stage to avoid burning)
5. Transfer to the oven, on to an oven rack with a tray underneath to catch the juices.
6. Cook for 1hour and 10 minutes. Temperature should be around 60C-65C.
7. Cover with foil and rest for 15 minutes before serving.

Chimichurri

1. Place all the ingredients into a food processor or cut by hand until the desired consistancy.
2. Serve in a separate dish alongside the other elements.

Sauteed Potatoes

1. Boil the potatoes for 5minutes until a knife meets small resistance when cutting through. Drain and leave to steam until just before your picanha is ready to come out of the oven.
2. Slice potatoes in half.
3. In two batches, add a tbps of olive oil into a frying pan on a medium-high heat.
4. Add the potatoes, cut side down and brown. Season.
5. Flip over and add the butter, garlic and parsley. Continue cooking until everything has browned. Transfer to your serving dish.