Prego rolls (Portuguese steak rolls)

Name: Prego rolls (Portuguese steak rolls)
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: South African
Ingredients: 4 thin rump or sirloin steaks, about 150 g (5 oz) each (or 2 thick steaks cut in half horizontally); 4 crusty Portuguese rolls (or ciabatta rolls, or any crusty white roll); 2 tomatoes, sliced; 1 small onion, thinly sliced; Lettuce leaves, optional; Salt and black pepper; 4 tablespoons olive oil; 4 tablespoons red wine; 1 clove garlic, crushed; 1/2 teaspoon crushed dried chilli; 1 bay leaf; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/4 teaspoon black pepper; 125 g (1/2 cup) soft butter; 1 or 2 fresh red chillies, finely chopped

Thin rump steak in a garlic, wine and chilli marinade, seared for a minute a side over hot coals and pushed into a crusty roll with chilli butter.

Coals: Hot coals
Prep: 15 min
On the fire: 10 min
Plan ahead: 30 minutes to 24 hours marinating
Serves: 4

Ingredients

4 thin rump or sirloin steaks, about 150 g (5 oz) each (or 2 thick steaks cut in half horizontally)
4 crusty Portuguese rolls (or ciabatta rolls, or any crusty white roll)
2 tomatoes, sliced
1 small onion, thinly sliced
Lettuce leaves, optional
Salt and black pepper

Classic marinade

4 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons red wine
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon crushed dried chilli
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Chilli butter

125 g (1/2 cup) soft butter
1 or 2 fresh red chillies, finely chopped

Method

Put each steak between two sheets of baking paper and beat it with a rolling pin or meat mallet until it is about 1 cm (1/3 inch) thick all over.
Mix the marinade ingredients in a shallow dish. Turn the steaks in it, cover, and leave in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, or up to 24 hours.
Mash the butter with the chopped chilli. Split the rolls and spread the cut sides with the chilli butter.
Make a hot fire. Scrape the grid clean and let it heat over the coals for a few minutes.
Lift the steaks out of the marinade, let the excess drip off and season with a little salt. Lay them on the hot grid.
Cook for 1 to 2 minutes a side only. Lift them onto a clean plate and rest for 3 to 5 minutes.
While the steak rests, put the rolls cut side down on the grid for 30 to 60 seconds, until toasted and just coloured.
Put a steak in each roll with tomato, onion and lettuce if you like. Eat straight away.

Done when: the steak has a deep brown crust and a juicy pink centre, 57 to 63°C (135 to 145°F) if you measure it.

Tips

Use a tender cut only. Rump, sirloin or fillet tail works. Chuck or brisket will be chewy however thin you beat it.
Beating the steak thin is what makes it a prego. Thick steak will not cook through in 2 minutes and will not fit the roll.
The grid must be hot and clean. On a warm grid the thin steak steams grey instead of browning.
Café-style version: blend 3 tablespoons peri-peri sauce, 125 ml (1/2 cup) tomato passata, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 2 cloves garlic, 1 bay leaf, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon sugar and 1 teaspoon salt, and marinate the steaks overnight. Outside South Africa use any African bird's-eye hot sauce, or a hot sauce mixed with cayenne and lemon.
Warm the leftover marinade in a small pan on the grid for a few minutes and spoon it over the steak, or dip the cut sides of the rolls in it.
A flattened chicken breast marinated and cooked the same way gives you a prego de frango.

The prego no pão came to South Africa with Portuguese families from Mozambique and Madeira, and became a fixture of the corner café and the roadhouse, usually with a peri-peri kick. The name means nail, from the idea of the steak being nailed into the bread.

It cooks fast, so have everything cut, buttered and on the table before the steak goes on. See reading your coals for getting the grid properly hot, and safe braai temperatures and salting and resting meat for the rest.