Steak with Mushroom and Bell Pepper Panini

Café food at its best: Beef steak, served with sautéed mushrooms, bell peppers and a bit of blue cheese between toasted slices of bread.

It's an ideal weeknight dinner, simple and fast to prepare, fast to clean up and it tastes great! The vegetable sandwich also tastes great without the steak.

Ingredients

• 4 beef steaks
• 7 oz / 200 g mushrooms, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
• 1 yellow bell pepper, cut into strips
• ¼ small onion, finely chopped
• 4 large slices of white bread or toast
• about 4 tbsp of creamy blue cheese or 2 tbsp of butter
• olive oil
• white truffle oil (optional)
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Season steaks with freshly ground black pepper.
2. Set a pan over medium-high heat. Add oil and steaks. Cook steaks to your desired level of doneness (5-6 minutes per side for medium-rare). Remove from pan, season with salt and let rest for a few minutes.
3. While the steaks are cooking, set a heavy pan over high heat. Add a bit of olive oil and the mushrooms. Cook for a few minutes. Add salt, truffle oil and chopped garlic and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.
4. Add oil to the pan. Cook the bell peppers over high heat until they just start to soften. Remove from the pan and set aside.
5. Reduce heat, add oil to the pan and cook the onion until it just starts to brown. Remove from the pan and set aside.
6. Toast the bread slices. Spread 1 tbsp of blue cheese or ½ tbsp of butter over each slice. Cut in half.
7. Combine the vegetables, season to taste with salt and place equal amounts between bread slice halves. Garnish the steak with a bit of bell pepper. Sprinkle everything with freshly ground black pepper. Serve warm.

While you can of course use a panini press to toast the bread, a broiler or even a toaster works just fine.

Yields 4 servings

Preparation time 30-45 minutes