This pasta salad is rich with flavours of the Mediterranean. Serve with crusty bread and a glass of good red wine to accompany it.

Ingredients

• 300-400 gram piece NZ Quality Mark Rump Steak
• salt and pepper
• 300 grams dried small lasagne noodles
• 1 aubergine
• 1 red pepper, cored and deseeded
• 1 punnet yellow or red cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2 spring onions, trimmed and chopped
• about 2 cups torn lettuce leaves
• about 12 black olives
• 2-3 tblsp capers

Dressing

• 2 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
• 2 egg yolks
• ¾ cup oil*
• about 3-4 tblsp vinegar (use white wine or cider)
• 56 gram tin anchovies in oil, well drained
• 1 tsp prepared mild mustard

Method

1. Season the beef well with salt and pepper. Heat a dash of oil in a heavy base frying pan and cook the steak for about 4 minutes on each side. Cool. This will give you a rare steak, if you would like it cooked to medium add an extra 2 minutes on each side.
2. Cut the aubergine into 1cm thick slices. Brush with oil and pan-fry over a moderate heat for 10 minutes, turning once, until cooked. Cool. When cold cut in half. Cut the red pepper into thin strips and add to the hot pan and cook for about 5 minutes until well softened and browned.
3. Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until al dente and drained very well so that no water remains on the lasagne pieces.
4. In a large bowl toss the aubergine, red pepper strips, lasagne, tomatoes, spring onions, lettuce, olives and capers. Finely slice the beef and add with the dressing and toss quickly to coat.
5. Serve on large plates. If wished you can add a few pieces of crispy pita bread to the salad to add extra crunch. Serve immediately after dressing the salad.

Dressing

1. In a small blender or food processor, put the garlic, egg yolks, oil, vinegar, drained anchovies and mustard and process until the dressing is smooth. Season with pepper if wished. You probably will not need any salt as the anchovies are quite salty themselves.

Cooks Tips

I used a light olive oil for the dressing, but canola or a light peanut oil is fine. If you only have virgin olive oil, use it in a ration of half and half with another lighter oil, otherwise you will have a very strong olive oil flavour.