Levant Steak Roulade & Tabouleh Rice

This Eastern Mediterranean stuffed flank steak style, may look complicated to do in pictures but you will be surprised how simple it is to pull out and how fancy and tasty it will taste.

The Levant inspired cheese filling I put together to this steak adds the perfect complement with the meat.

It is a great main course for your Christmas dinner or lunch, because just look at it, it is an impressive dish to make for family and friends.

And with this beautiful jeweled Tabouleh rice aside it is just the perfect Middle Eastern Christmas main course you will ever taste!

It is crispy salty from outside and tender and moist from inside with every bit you will definitely feel the explosion of flavors in your mouse from the feta cheese to the dry tomato and vegetable mixture.

As I mention before, that recipe despite that is look stunning and fancy it is actually much easier to make than it seems. And I took some quick picture while rolling the steaks to make it easier for you to understand what I am talking about, just them with recipe below!

Once I have got all my ingredients for the fillings ready, I prepared the cheese spread in a bowl and then the veggies mixture in another one and start rolling those steaks!

I placed a butterflied flank steak on my working top, and lay on the top of it a plastic sheet and pound with the flat side of a meat mallet or with a garlic smasher tool like I did (in the pictures below) and roll it out from the middle to the sides after you finish remove the plastic, spread the two layers of cheese than vegetables mixture and then start rolling those babies!

 

And start roasting this masterpiece for Christmas dinner and make the whole family think you are a hero!

The end result will be a delicious super flavorful meat meal with amazing rice in the side.

For the Tabouleh rice, I wanted to add something fresh and bright to this recipe, and I love the sharp lemony flavor of the Tabouleh dressing and that added a great contrast to the brown rice I used with a perfect sweet touch from the pomegranate, it is just perfect I ate have of the rice before start even taking photos of this recipe today 😛 !

So let us start preparing this amazing recipe to impress some folks on Christmas!

 

 

 

Levant Steak Roulade & Tabouleh Rice

Serve two roulade of 16 pieces each

I tried to divide the steps so it will be clear and make it much easier for you to follow, please read the instructions to the end and prepare all your ingredients before starting.

INGREDIENTS:

For the cheese spread:

• 200 g Feta cheese, crumbled
• 50 g halloumi cheese crumbled
• ½ cup raw walnuts
• ¼ cup raisins

For the vegetable mixture:

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 cup mushroom diced
• ½ cup onions, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. honey
• 2 cups fresh spinach, roughly chopped
• ½ cup fresh parsley leaves
• ¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves
• ¼ cup dry tomato
• Pinch of white pepper
• 1 tsp. dry rosemary
• 1 tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. nutmeg grounded
• ¼ tsp. cardamom grounded
• ½ tsp. cinnamon grounded
• Pinch of clove, grounded

For the steak:

• 2 flank steak (500 g/ each) butterflied (you can ask the butcher and he will open it up and pound it for you , that is what I did)
• Salt and black pepper for seasoning
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil mixed with 1 Tbsp. dried rosemary
• Mustard mixture for greasing: ¼ cup mustard, 1 tsp. Dijon mustard, 2 tsp. mustard seeds. 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar, 1 Tbsp. dry rosemary, 1 tsp. sweet pepper, ½ tsp. cinnamon, ¼ tsp. Black Pepper.
• Some twine to tie the roulade up

For the Tabouleh Rice:

• 2 cups  uncooked brown rice
• 2 Tbsp. fresh mint, finely chopped
• 1 cup fresh parsley leaf, finely chopped
• 1 small onion, diced
• ½ cup pomegranate
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• 1 tsp. lemon zest
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• ½ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. black pepper
• ¼ tsp. sweet pepper
• ½ tsp. cinnamon
• ½ tsp. paprika pepper
• 2 tsp. sumac + 1 tsp. sumac
• 1 tsp. pomegranate molasses

 

 

INSTRUCTIONS:

We start by preparing the filling layers:

For the cheese spread:

• Pour all the ingredients in a food processor or blender.
• Pulse on high speed until you have a smooth mixture.
• Pour in a bowl and Set aside.(step 1 in picture below)

For the vegetable mixture:

• Heat the olive oil on medium high heat and add the diced mushroom with the white pepper.
• Cook for around 5-6 minutes until the mushroom are tender and start to release their moist and decrease in size and get brownish color.
• Add the onions and cook through for 2-3 minute till tender and translucent
• Add the garlic and cook through till you smell the garlic.
• Add all the remaining peppers and seasoning (rosemary,salt,nutmeg, cardamom, cinnamon, clove ) with the honey and mix it all well
• Add the spinach and cook it through until they are wilted, remove from heat and set aside.
• In a food processor or blender, add the parsley, cilantro and tomato and pulse till is chopped and mix.
• Add the parsley mixture above the remaining ingredients and mix it all together
• Pour in a bowl and set aside. (step 1 in picture below)

For the steak:

• Preheat oven on 200 C◦, grease the baking tray with the olive rosemary mixture and set aside
• Put one of the butterflied steak on your working space, put on the top of it a plastic sheet, pound it with a meat mallet or garlic smasher and roll it out from the middle to the edge with a roller. (step 2 in picture below)
• Remove the plastic sheet, sprinkle with some salt and pepper and rub it over the steak.
• In the middle of the steak, put 4 Tbsp. of cheese mixture and spread it over the steak, leaving 2 cm offset all around the outline. (step 3 in picture below)
• Repeat the same step with the vegetable mixture over the cheese mixture.
• Fold the edges to the inside over the spreading and Start from your side , roll up the steak tightly, tie it up with the twines, start from the middle than on the edges and add two between the center and the edge one from each side. (step 4 in picture below)
• I had to stitch the steak after rolling in some parts because it was ripped.
• Brush it with the mustard mixture, place it in the baking tray, brushed part down and brush the other side with the same mustard mixture. (step 5-6 in picture below)
• Repeat the same process with the other steak.
• Bake for 35 minutes in the oven, than turn of the heat and turn on the broiler for 10 minutes till brownish.
• Let it sit for 15 minutes at least before slicing.
• Slice and serve with the Tabouleh rice.
• Enjoy!

While the steak is baking in the oven prepare the Tabouleh rice:

For the Tabouleh Rice:

• Cook the rice according to the package instructions then drain well and put into a bowl.
• Add the parsley, mint and pomegranate with the rice in the bowl.
• Rub the diced onion with the 2 tsp. sumac and add to the rice bowl.
• In another bowl whisk together the lemon juice, lemon zest, olive oil, salt, black pepper, sweet pepper, cinnamon, paprika pepper, sumac, pomegranate molasses.
• Pour over the rice bowl and mix it all good together.
• Serve with the steak
• Enjoy!