Prego no PãoPortuguese Garlic Steak Sandwich

A prego no pão is Portugal's steak sandwich: a thin slice of beef fried fast with plenty of garlic, then tucked into a crusty white roll that soaks up the pan juices. It's the classic late-night snack in Lisbon, the thing people order at a beach café with a cold beer, and the traditional last course of a seafood marisqueira meal, when you're still a little hungry.

It's simple, so the details count. The steak must be thin, beaten to about 5 mm, so it cooks in a minute a side and stays tender. And the garlic goes into the pan with the meat, so the fat and juices that end up in the bread taste of it.

The recipe

Prego no PãoPortuguese Garlic Steak Sandwich

Prego no pão, Lisbon's garlic steak sandwich: thin beef fried fast with garlic, bay and wine, stuffed into a crusty roll with the pan juices. 25 minutes.

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Prep15 min

Cook10 min

Total25 min

Serves4

Ingredients

MetricUS

Serves

4

½×1×2×3×

• 4 thin beef steaks, about 120 g each (rump, sirloin or topside)
• 6 cloves garlic, 2 crushed and 4 sliced
• 2 bay leaves, broken in half
• 4 tbsp dry white wine
• 1 tsp coarse salt
• Black pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 20 g butter
• 4 papo-seco rolls, or small crusty white rolls
• Mustard or piri-piri sauce, to serve (optional)

Method

1. Lay the steaks between two sheets of baking paper and beat them with a meat mallet or rolling pin to about 5 mm thick. Trim off any thick sinew so they don't curl in the pan.
2. Rub the steaks with the crushed garlic, salt and pepper. Put them in a dish with the bay leaves and wine and leave for 15 minutes, or up to 4 hours in the fridge.
3. Heat a heavy frying pan over high heat until very hot. Add the olive oil, butter and sliced garlic.
4. Lift the steaks out of the marinade, keeping the liquid, and fry for 1 minute on each side. Do two at a time so the pan stays hot. Take them out as soon as they're browned.
5. Pour the marinade and bay leaves into the pan. Let it bubble for 1 minute, scraping up the brown bits, to make a small amount of garlicky sauce.
6. Split the rolls and press the cut sides into the pan juices for a few seconds.
7. Put a steak and some of the fried garlic in each roll, spoon over a little sauce, and add mustard or piri-piri if you like. Eat straight away.

Notes

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Lodge 12-inch cast iron skillet

One of Amazon's best-selling pans. Gets hot enough to sear bitoque steaks and blister sardines.

Tip: Season it and it lasts forever.

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The bread

In Portugal the roll is a papo-seco (also called carcaça), a light white roll with a crisp shell and a soft, airy inside. It's what makes a prego taste like the ones in Lisbon. A crusty bread roll or a small ciabatta is the closest substitute. Our Portuguese bread guide explains the different rolls. In Madeira, a prego often comes in bolo do caco, the island's flat bread, with garlic butter.

Prego, bifana and bitoque

They're often confused. A prego is beef in a roll. A bifana is a thin pork steak simmered in a wine and garlic sauce, also in a roll. A bitoque is a beef steak served on a plate with a fried egg, chips and rice. Order a "prego no prato" and you'll get something close to a bitoque.

Popular extras

A prego is plain by tradition, but cafés offer a few extras. "Prego especial" or "prego com tudo" can mean a fried egg, ham and melted cheese in the roll, depending on where you order. A slice of fiambre and cheese is a common combination. Some places serve it with a small bowl of chips.

From the shop

What you’ll need

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Amazon best seller

Lodge 12-inch cast iron skillet

One of Amazon's best-selling pans. Gets hot enough to sear bitoque steaks and blister sardines.

Tip: Season it and it lasts forever.

View on Amazon

Amazon best seller

CAROTE 12-inch non-stick frying pan

A top-selling non-stick pan, ideal for bacalhau à Brás, where the eggs must slide.

Tip: Use wooden or silicone tools to protect the coating.

View on Amazon

Portuguese

Piri-piri chillies from Portugal

Whole dried bird's-eye chillies, the heat behind frango piri-piri and the bottle of chilli oil on every Portuguese table.

Tip: Two packs last a year. Crush them as you need them.

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