A pistounade is a green olive paste mixed with basil and pine nuts. It is delicious with steak, especially served with a good French bread. The word comes from two words – ‘pistou’ and 'tapenade'.

Ingredients:
3 thyme sprigs, chopped
80ml (1/3 cup) extra virgin olive oil
6 pieces of eye fillet, about 5 cm thick
120g green-pitted olives
2 tbs pine nuts
2 garlic cloves
1 cup basil leaves
2 pinches of cayenne pepper

Directions:
Mix thyme with half the oil and season with a little pepper, then rub over fillets. Cover and refrigerate until 10 minutes before cooking. In a food processor, blend olives, pine nuts, garlic, basil and remaining oil till almost a puree. Season with cayenne and black pepper. Place in a bowl cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Cook the fillets on the BBQ, on a char grill pan or pan fry for 2-6 minutes each side depending on how you like your meat. Set aside for 5 minutes to rest. Transfer to heat serving plates and top with a tablespoon of pistounade. The dish goes well with curly endive salad with lardoons and some mashed potato. Drizzle with any cooking or resting juices.

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