Week 1 - Steak Pizzaioli - June 28, 2010

Steak Pizzaioli

Ingredients:

• Two 12- ounce shell (strip) steaks, each about ¾ inch thick
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 ripe plum tomatoes, cored, seeded, and diced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ¼ teaspoon crushed hot red pepper
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley 

1. Pat the steaks dry with a paper towel and season them with ½ teaspoon salt. Let stand at room temperature while making the tomato sauce.

2. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, oregano, remaining ¼ teaspoon salt and the hot pepper. Stir in ¼ cup water and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes, until the sauce thickens. During the last 5 minutes, stir in the parsley. Transfer the sauce to a bowl, and clean the skillet.

3. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in the skillet over medium-high heat. Add the steaks to the skillet and cook about 3 minutes on each side for medium-rare. Transfer to a carving board and let stand for 5 minutes.

4. Pour out the fat in the skillet. Return the tomato sauce to the skillet and bring to a simmer, scraping up the browned bits in the skillet. Remove from the heat.

5. Hold the knife at a slight diagonal and cut the steak across the grain into ½ inch thick slices. Arrange the steak slices on a platter. Pour the tomato sauce over the steak and serve hot.

My Notes:
 This recipe was taken from the cookbook, The Skinny Italian.  I  put it over angel hair pasta but It could go with whatever you would like. I also served it with prosciutto wrapped green beans.

Verdict: Very good for first attempt. It was just a tad bland so I would kick up the spice a little next time.