BEEF PIZZAIOLA
- 1 TABLESPOON GARLIC-FLAVORED OIL
- 4 THIN-CUT NEW YORK STRIP STEAKS OR HUMANELY RAISED VEAL ESCALOPES (APPROX. 12 OUNCES)
- 4 ANCHOVY FILLETS
- 1 TEASPOON DRIED OREGANO
- ¼ TEASPOON CRUSHED RED PEPPER FLAKES
- 8 OUNCES CHERRY TOMATOES, HALVED
- ¼ CUP PITTED BLACK OLIVES, PREFERABLY OIL-CURED
- 2 TABLESPOONS DRAINED CAPERS
- 2 TABLESPOONS DRY RED VERMOUTH
- 2 TABLESPOONS WATER
- 1 TABLESPOON CHOPPED FRESH PARSLEY, TO SERVE
Instructions:
ITALIANS ARE VERY GOOD AT FINDING WAYS of elevating the less costly cuts of meat in their cooking. Although beef pizzaiola emanates from Naples, you’ll find it (and, more commonly, veal as well as fish steaks cooked this way) throughout Italy. It’s a cheerful, punchy little number, taking its name, as is self-explanatory, from the fact that it tastes rather like a pizza topping. Tomatoes, oregano, and garlic are pretty much always in evidence, with frequent sightings of olives and capers; I like to add anchovies and a sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes, too.
- Warm the garlic-flavored oil in a non-stick frying pan that will contain all 4 steaks or escalopes snugly; I use one with a diameter of 11 inches.
- When the oil is hot, fry the steaks or escalopes over a high heat for 30 seconds a side (for medium-rare, longer if you must), then take the pan off the heat, transfer the steaks to a large piece of aluminum foil and make a loose but tightly sealed package. I don’t salt the meat at this stage, as I would do normally, since the oil-cured olives are intensely salty. If using regular pitted olives, add a pinch of salt to each steak.
- Put the pan back on the heat and add the anchovy fillets, stirring and squishing them down with a wooden spoon or similar until they start to dissolve into the oil. Stir in the dried oregano and red pepper flakes.
- Now tumble in the halved tomatoes along with the olives and capers and the red vermouth, and cook for 2 minutes. Add the water and cook for 1 further minute.
- Acting fast, while the sauce is cooking, unwrap the steaks, slice and arrange them on a platter, pouring the juices that have collected in the foil into the pan. Now pour the contents of the pan over and sprinkle with the parsley.
- Serve immediately, and if you want to feed 4 rather than 2, I’d simply add more than one side dish, remembering that the piquancy of the sauce already helps it to go further