Skirt Steak Pinwheels

Lay the steak out onto a work surface, cover it with plastic wrap and pound it with a meat mallet until it’s at least 4 inches wide and no more than 1/3 of an inch thick – one end will be thinner, this is fine.  Season both sides with salt and pepper, then lay it flat and sprinkle the cheese evenly over the steak, leaving a 1/2-inch border.  Next sprinkle the lemon zest on top of the cheese, and lastly the parsley.  Gently press the toppings down so that they flatten (and hopefully stick better to the steak), then starting at the skinny end, roll the steak up around the filling.

This is where 2 sets of hands really helps.  Tie butcher’s twine around the middle of your ‘log’, then add 2 more pieces around the pinwheel equidistant from the middle to each end – you may choose to use more twine, just do what you need to do.  Cut the roll into equal-sized pieces, making sure that each section has at least 1 piece of twine around it to hold it together.  Since you’re starting with at least 2 rolled ‘logs’, plan ahead a bit before you begin cutting.  I rolled up and tied the meat the day before we planned on serving it, wrapped it well in plastic and put it in the fridge overnight, then cut it into pinwheels as the barbecue was heating up, giving them time to come to room temperature.

Heat up for barbecue or charcoal grill to high heat, and cook the pinwheels about 6 minutes per side until browned on all sides and the internal temperature is 135.  If a couple of them are oddly shaped (like ours were, because we didn’t trim the ends), you may need to turn them a few extra times to allow them to cook evenly.  Once done, give them a few minutes to rest before serving.  We enjoyed these with mashed potatoes and a big salad.