Steak Pizzaiola

I am reporting this recipe because Chris Fennimore the host of the TV show WQED Cooks in Pittsburgh Pa. made it and added a delicious looking wide noodle so I am showing his photo with the pasta. This is a great addition to this recipe!
Steak Pizzaiola
There are lots of recipes out there on how to make this dish but this is the way my Grandmother would make it so this is the recipe I am sharing. She always used a inexpensive cut of meat because it would braise so long and become tender. I’ve seen recipes that call for tomato sauce being poured over a steak and then add mozzarella, not legit.

You will need:

2-3 lb chuck steak
1 cup chopped onion
6 cloves of garlic
4 tbs extra virgin olive oil
2-28 ounce cans whole Italian plum tomatoes crushed by hand.
salt
Cracked black pepper
1/2 cup red wine
2 bay leaves

Directions:

In a very heavy skillet add 2 tbs of oil and get that hot.
Salt and pepper both sides of the steak and then Brown both sides. Figure 2 minutes each side. Remove the steak to a dish.
Put the other 2 tbs oil in the skillet and lower the heat to medium and add the onion and garlic and sauté this for 2-3 minutes.
Now add the crushed tomatoes and all the juice, wine, bay leaves, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper and scrape all the brown bits off the bottom of the skillet.
Once it comes to a boil lower the heat to a simmer then add the steak back to the skillet and cover with the sauce. Cover and let this braise for 1 to 1.5 hours. The longer you let it braise the tastier this will be.
After it’s done remove the lid and taste for salt n pepper.
Remove the steak to a platter and allow the sauce to simmer uncovered for 15 minutes to thicken.
Cut the steak and top with the sauce. You can also make a pasta to go with the sauce. So good, simple and old school. The sauce is gonna be incredible and you can freeze any that is left to use for another night with some pasta. I say rigatoni.

– Daniel Mancini

MamaMancini's Newsletter

« Previous

Back to all Recipes