Steak, bacon and cheese may not be an obvious choice but give this recipe a go and you’ll be surprised at how well the flavour combinations work. It’s important to leave the steaks to come to room temperature before cooking and don’t forget to season well. This starter boasts big flavours so you can go easy on portion size

Ingredients
- 4 beef steaks (fillet or sirloin)
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 6 rashes streaky bacon, cut into strips
- 125ml/4fl oz olive oil
- 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 50g/1 ½ oz Roquefort cheese
- 100g/ 3 ½ mixed salad leaves
- 4 tbsp fried bread croutons
- 1 avocado, stoned and diced
- 1 tbsp snipped chives and a few chervil leaves to garnish
Serves 4
Method
- Ensure the steaks are well trimmed, with fat removed. Season with pepper and allow to come to room temperature
- Fry the bacon in a dry pan until lightly crisp. Remove from pan and leave to drain on kitchen paper until it is cool enough to crumble
- Whisk the olive oil and vinegar in a bowl, crumble the Roquefort and mix into the dressing season with pepper.
- While the steaks fry in the same pan used for the bacon, carefully arrange the salad leaves in the centre of each plate. Sprinkle the bacon and croutons and avocado over the salad.
- When the steaks are cooked to your preference, slice each one into four-five slices and place in the middle of the salad
- Spoon over the dressing and serve