Bistecca alla Pizzaiola
La Dispensa: The Sicilian-American Pantry Essentials
It is peasant food at its absolute finest: cheap, fast, and intensely flavorful. If you grew up in a Sicilian-American home, the aroma of garlic and dried oregano hitting hot olive oil meant one thing—you were having pizzaiola for dinner. While later diaspora adaptations bulked this out into a slow-cooked stew heavy with peppers and mushrooms, the authentic grandmother’s secret relies on a hard, quick sear of thinly pounded beef followed by a punchy sauce fortified with the briny depth of capers and black olives. We use mechanically tenderized cube steak here because it perfectly mimics the traditional Italian cuts, soaking up the sauce while keeping this a realistic twenty-minute weeknight meal.
Before you start
Crush the whole peeled tomatoes by hand.
Pour them into a bowl and squeeze them to a rustic, chunky texture, which provides a far superior consistency to store-bought diced tomatoes.
Pat the cube steaks entirely dry with paper towels.
Moisture is the enemy of a proper sear, and the meat needs to brown rapidly before the pan cools.
Ingredients
- beef cube steaks1 1/2 lb
- extra-virgin olive oil3 tbsp
- garlic3 large cloves
- canned whole peeled plum tomatoes28 oz
- dried oregano1 tbsp
- kalamata or oil-cured black olives1/3 cup
- capers in brine1 1/2 tbsp
- kosher saltto taste
- black pepperto taste
Method
- 01
Season and flash-sear the steaks.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers, season the steaks generously with salt and pepper, and sear for barely 45 to 60 seconds per side before transferring to a plate.
- 02
Toast the smashed garlic in the residual beef fat.
Lower the heat to medium, drop the garlic into the pan drippings, and let it gently sizzle for a minute or two until golden and fragrant.
- 03
Build and reduce the pizzaiola sauce.
Carefully pour in the crushed tomatoes, oregano, black olives, and capers, scraping up any browned bits from the pan, and simmer uncovered for 10 to 12 minutes until thickened.
- 04
Reintegrate the steaks to warm through.
Lower the heat to low, return the meat and any resting juices to the pan, spoon the sauce over the top, and cover to simmer for exactly 1 to 2 minutes.
Notes
Do not overcook the cube steak.
Mechanically tenderized beef will seize and become dry if boiled vigorously; it only needs to be warmed through in the final step.
Avoid using fresh oregano.
Dried oregano is strictly required to achieve the concentrated, earthy pizza flavor profile this dish is named for.
Skip the bell peppers and mushrooms.
While common in Italian-American diaspora variations, the true Sicilian method relies purely on the briny punch of capers and olives.