Both my love affair with pizza and deviant adoration of a very rare steak make it no surprise that Beef Pizzaiola is a personal favorite. Basically, it’s the Neapolitan or Campanian way of cooking beef, or veal for that matter, with a pizza-inspired sauce. At its simplest form, the sauce is nothing more than tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, and oregano—the hallmarks of a truly exceptional pizza sauce, especially if you ask the Napoli apizza makers here in New Haven. Of course, other flourishes, like basil, chili flakes, onions, capers and the like are added, potentially to the dismay or purists, naturally. I tend to fall into the Flourish Party with this, while trying not to overcomplicate or convolute, but there is a certain kind of serenity in its original simplicity, like throwing toppings to the wayside in favor of a really good cheese pizza. Not long after moving to New Haven, I stopped in at Del Monaco’s Italian Market on Townsend for a quick lunch, and picked up their pizzaiola sandwich; the sauce was simple, the beef was tender, the bread was warm, and it was bliss.
Steak pizzaiola is usually prepared one of two ways; braised slowly, or at top seed. The method is based on the cut of meat you’re using, and how thick the cut is. If you’re using a thicker cut chuck steak (or chuck roast, broken down into thinner portions) you’ll want to lean more towards the braising side to keep the meat tender and moist, making more of a pot roast-gone-pizzaiola. A cut that’s tenderer naturally lends itself well to quick cooking; a slap in a hot pan on either side, followed by a quick bath in the tomato Jacuzzi is all it needs before being plate-bound. Both methods have their own merits, but when you’re down to the wire starving, or the days are too hot to even fathom turning the oven on, a tender piece of meat and a screaming hot cast iron pan get dinner on the table at fast lane speed. Enter Sicilian Steak Pizzaiola.
The name might be slightly misleading. I can’t say that its inspiration is particularly rooted in Sicilian tradition or cuisine, or at least that of authenticity. Normally I wouldn’t give a dish a name alluding to a place of origin where one doesn’t exist—putting Manchego on something doesn’t make it Spanish, splashing something with Balsamic doesn’t make it Italian—but it’s rational here. This pizzaiola doesn’t get its name from Sicily, but rather from a small Michigan chain pizzeria’s own pie called, as you might guess, The Sicilian. The dough is slathered with an herby oil before being scattered with olives, pepperoncini (banana peppers), fresh tomatoes, cured salami, and cheese. Is it really Sicilian? I don’t know. Why not? But being that this is beef cooked in the vein of pizza, I thought it appropriate to name after it this particular pizza rather than the place (so if you have any beef with the name—get it?—now you’re in on the joke).
Since the pizza in question has fresh tomatoes, blistered in the heat of the oven, I went for the same thing rather than canned tomatoes, and since they get tossed into a screaming hot pan, full of flavors, their flavor develops so even out of season cherry or grape tomatoes will taste like summer. The sauce makes itself, really; bosquey and gutsy from oregano, chili flakes, and anchovy; winey and slightly acidic from the vermouth; sweetness, oozed from the tomatoes; and whatever browned bits from the beef that stuck to the pan. The olives and pepperoncini bring a briney bite that ties the whole thing together. Aside from a giant chunk of bread, and maybe an arugula salad, this is all you need for a fantastic and low effort dinner.
Don’t forget to follow me on BLOGLOVIN’!
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 2 | 5 - 10 minutes |
| Cook Time | Passive Time |
| 15 minutes | 30 minutes (optional--see recipe) |
|
|
|
|
Tender beef shoulder steaks are cooked with a quick and fresh tomato sauce for an easy and delicious pizzaiola.
|
- 2 beef shoulder steaks about 4 - 6oz each, a generous 1/4" thick
- 2 - 3 t-spoons garlic-infused olive oil
- 1 - 2 anchovy filets or a heaping 1/4 t-spoon anchovy paste
- A few generous pinches chili flakes
- A few generous pinches dried oregano
- 6 ounces cherry or grape halved (roughly a heaped half of a dry pint)
- 6 kalamata olives pitted and halved or sliced (roughly 1 ounce)
- 6 green Sicilian olives pitted and halved or sliced (roughly 1 ounce)
- 3 - 4 pepperoncinis sliced into rings
- 6 tablespoons extra dry white vermouth
- 1/2 t-spoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon fresh minced parsley
- If you have 30 minutes to spare (or more), season the steaks on both sides with salt and set them aside. The salt will pull some juices out of the meat, dissolving the salt, and after some time sitting will reabsorb back into the meat, bringing the salt with them to give you seasoning throughout.
- Heat a cast iron pan over medium heat for a good while—say, 5-10 minutes—to get it hot (or put it in a 350-400° oven for 20 – 30 minutes, which will give you more consistent heat, without cold spots).
- Smear the steaks with a t-spoon of oil each, and slap them into the hot pan. Sear for just 2 minutes before flipping them over, and cooking an additional 2 (this gets you somewhere in the ballpark of medium-rare, so adjust the time to suit your preference—though be cautious, as some cuts are not suited for being cooked much past a soft medium). Anyway, remove the pan from the heat and the steaks to warm plate. Cover the meat with foil and set aside.
- If the pan seems very dry then add the last t-spoon of oil before adding the anchovies. If the pan is smoking hot then give it a few minutes to cool; what you want is for the anchovies to almost melt into the oil, and if it’s too hot they will just fry and frazzle. Stir them into the pan, breaking them up to help them melt.
- Add the chili flakes and oregano, and stir for just a few moments before tumbling the tomatoes, olives, and pepperoncini. Toss them in the hot pan until you see the tomatoes begin to take notice of the heat, softening slightly—just a minute or two.
- Pour in the vermouth, scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon, and simmer 3 – 5 minutes, until the sauce is reduced and thickened slightly, and the tomatoes burst a bit.
- Move the steaks to warm serving plates, pouring any juices that collected on the plate while resting into the simmering pan, and spoon the sauce over top, scattering with parsley for a final flourish.
-If you wanted to make this for a larger group of people you could do this sort of tagliata style; a London broil/flank steak/top round steak/top blade steak can get seared in a hot pan to medium-rare (or medium), thinly sliced, and topped with the sauce before serving.
Thanks For Sharing this amazing recipe. My family loved it. I will be sharing this recipe with my friends. Hope the will like it.