David Burtka’s Grilled Steak & Asparagus Salad
with Farro, Mushrooms & Lemony Ricotta
- Milk
- Wheat
Professional chef David has a sixth sense when it comes to taking simple, fresh ingredients and next-leveling them into top-notch cuisine. Here, he creates an infused oil from scratch, using fresh thyme and garlic, and then whisks in Dijon mustard, lemon juice, and lemon zest to use as a dressing for chewy farro with grilled asparagus, scallions, and garlicky sautéed mushrooms. It’s spooned over a creamy base of lemony ricotta and topped with fire-grilled bavette steaks that are slightly charred on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside. Husband Neil Patrick Harris loves all of the flavors of this dish, and thinks you will too!
Ingredients
¼ ounce
Thyme
10 ounce
Bavette Steak
6 ounce
Asparagus
1 unit
Lemon
4 ounce
Ricotta Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
1 clove
Garlic
¾ cup
Farro
(Contains: Wheat)
2 unit
Mushroom Stock Concentrate
6 unit
Scallions
2 teaspoon
Dijon Mustard
1 teaspoon
Garlic Powder
4 ounce
Button Mushrooms
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Add farro; cook until tender, 20-25 minutes. • Drain and return farro to pot. Stir in stock concentrates; season with salt and pepper.
• While farro cooks, preheat a well-oiled grill to medium-high heat. (TIP: If using a grill pan, you’ll heat it in step 5.) Wash and dry produce. • Trim and discard woody bottom ends from asparagus. Trim ends from scallions. Peel and mince or grate garlic. Halve thyme sprigs crosswise. Zest and quarter lemon. Slice mushrooms (skip if your mushrooms are pre-sliced!). • In a large bowl, toss asparagus and scallions with a large drizzle of oil, a big pinch of salt (we used 1⁄2 tsp; 1 tsp for 4 servings), and pepper. Set aside.
• In a small microwave-safe bowl, combine garlic, half the garlic powder, half the thyme sprigs (all for 4 servings), and 3 TBSP olive oil (6 TBSP for 4). Cover with plastic wrap; microwave for 30 seconds. Set aside to infuse. • In a medium bowl, whisk together ricotta, half the lemon zest, juice from two lemon wedges (four wedges for 4), and 2 TBSP olive oil (4 TBSP for 4) until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Heat a large drizzle of oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and remaining garlic powder; cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and slightly crispy, 5-7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove pan from heat.
• Pat steak* dry with paper towels. Season all over with salt and pepper. • Add steak and marinated veggies to grill. (TIP: For a grill pan, oil and heat over medium-high heat. Work in batches.) Grill steak to desired doneness, 4-8 minutes per side. Grill veggies, turning occasionally, until slightly charred and tender, 5-6 minutes (grills can vary). • Remove from heat. Transfer steak to a cutting board to rest for at least 5 minutes. • PAN ALTERNATIVE: Cook marinated veggies in a large oiled pan over medium-high heat until charred and tender, 4-6 minutes. Transfer to a plate. (TIP: If pan is dry, add a drizzle of oil.) Cook steak in same pan over medium-high heat, 5-7 minutes per side (work in batches for 4).
• While steak rests, remove thyme sprigs from garlic oil; discard thyme sprigs. Whisk in mustard, remaining lemon zest, and juice from remaining lemon until smooth and combined; season with salt and pepper. Reserve 1 TBSP dressing (2 TBSP for 4 servings) for serving. • Slice asparagus and scallions into 2-inch pieces; add to pot with drained farro. Stir in mushrooms and remaining dressing. Season with salt and pepper.
• Slice steak against the grain. • Spread ricotta in an even layer across bottoms of shallow bowls. Spoon farro salad over ricotta and top with steak. Drizzle reserved dressing over steak and serve.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Dec 2025- Flavor: Many loved the delicious combination of flavors, especially the lemony ricotta and infused olive oil dressing 🍋.
- Ease of prep: Some found it time-consuming with many steps, but most agreed the results were worth the effort.
- Suggestions: Consider reducing lemon in the ricotta for less tartness; roasting vegetables together can simplify preparation.
- Portions: A few felt the steak portion was small for the premium price; others found the farro amount generous.
- Texture: Some noted the steak was tough; others praised its tenderness when cooked properly.
Reviews from our home cooks
This is the second recipe I've made with Hello Fresh. The risotto mix is really good, the steak was cooked exactly to my liking, the dressings are fantastic, and the salad is very flavorful. I personally dislike mushrooms quite a bit so I added 1/3 of the portion of mushrooms but even then, I can bear them because everything else is really good.
Loved the farro with the mushrooms. Was a little hard to prepare on a weeknight, so we made it for a Sunday dinner. The kids preferred the farro and asparagus and steak all separate, but the adults ate as the recipe was written. Delish!
Delicious! Absolutely love the flavor combinations in this new chef inspired David Burtka meal. It was a well balanced meal bursting with flavor. Absolutely worth the extra cost and portion size was pretty good. Would order again & look forward to trying other David Burtka meals.
I found this recipe overly complicated and annoying. I streamlined it by roasting the vegetables together in the oven with herbs and garlic added toward the end. I did not want to deal with my grill so a cast iron pan was my go to. I loved the farro with mushrooms and vegetables but thought the sauce was unnecessary and left it out.
I've never had farro and the asparagus salad was really good. The combination of flavors was great. It was a little more difficult than other recipes. More steps.
Asparagus was slimy and not enough for 4 servings. Also felt there was not enough garlic. The recipe takes longer than 15 min to prep and was a little complicated. However, it was delicious
Lots of futzing about to make this recipe. Just because it's a "chef recipe" doesn't mean it has to be complicated. Portions were great and we really enjoyed it, but honestly, it took almost an hour to prepare which is a little out of bounds for a weeknight meal.
Oh, wow! This is so full of delicious flavors! It wasn't actually hard to make but it had a few more steps than most of the recipes I've done. So worth the extra dirty dishes.
Very good, but had a lot of parts to it and I feel the recipe could have been written better
Delicious. But it was trickier to make than most HF recipes. It was kind of a pain in the butt. Tasted great, though.
