Steak Pizzaiola
Bursting with Italian flavors and easy enough for a weeknight feast, garlic toast covered with Steak Pizzaiola makes for a delicious Italian sandwich.
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What is Steak Pizzaiola?
In short, Steak Pizzaiola is a simple and flavorful Italian recipe that comes together in under 30 minutes. It is perfect as a weeknight dinner when you want something that feels very gourmet.
The longer answer, Steak Pizzaiola means beef cooked in a pizza style sauce. Just like with pizza, there are several different approaches that can be taken with Steak Pizzaiola. Such examples would be slow braised tougher cuts of meat, quick seared more tender cuts and all types of ingredient combinations within the sauce.
Pizzaiola Sauce Ingredients
- Olive Oil– Cornerstone of the incredibly healthy Mediterranean diet.
- Beef Top Round Steak or Top Sirloin– Both cuts are tender, flavorful and have a high affordability.
- Sea Salt and Pepper– Flavor and incredible health benefits.
- Dry White Wine– Enhances flavors and helps to deglaze pan of delicious browned steak bits.
- Fresh Garlic– A must have for a great Italian sauce.
- Anchovies– Gives the sauce the taste that it has been simmered for hours and no one will be able to guess the secret ingredient.
- Capers– Adds a depth of flavor and texture.
- Olives (either kalamata or black) -Gives the sauce delicious briny undertones.
- Red Chili Pepper Flakes– Adds a subtle amount of spice.
- San Marazano Tomatoes– One of the best types of tomatoes to use for a deep rich and flavorful sauce.
- Dried Oregano– Adds in a deep aromatic taste.
- Fresh Herbs (rosemary and basil)– Brings a delicate herby taste.
Pizzaiola Sauce
To make a phenomenal tasting Pizzaiola Sauce follow these steps (see recipe card for full instructions).
- Start with searing tender cuts of beef that have been sprinkled lightly with salt and pepper.
- Once seared, remove beef from pan and set aside. Place pan back over heat source and deglaze with wine.
- Add to the wine diced anchovies, diced olives and capers. Simmer for 2-3 minutes.
- Sprinkle in garlic, dried oregano and chili pepper flakes. Continue simmering for another 1-2 minutes.
- Add San Marazano tomatoes making sure to break apart tomatoes into smaller pieces using the back of a spatula. Simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes
- Dice herbs and stir into sauce. Place steaks back into pan, covering with sauce and continue simmering for another 3-4 minutes.
Ingredient Combinations
Just like pizza comes in many different varieties, Pizzaiola Sauce also has many different ingredient combinations. Here are a few examples to help personalize your sauce.
- Instead of Top Round Steak or Top Sirloin instead try Rib Eye Steak, Beef Tenderloin or New York Strip.
- Fresh Italian parsley can replace the fresh oregano and rosemary.
- Either the capers, anchovies and/or olives can be can be individually taken out and replaced with another one of these ingredients. In other words, if you are not a fan of anchovies simply replace by doubling the capers or olives. Note: If at all possible I highly recommend keeping the anchovies in the recipe as they add a wonderful depth of flavor.
- 1- 2 diced Pepperoncini can replace the the red chili pepper flakes.
- Another possibility is fresh vine ripened tomatoes instead of San Marazano tomatoes.
How to Make Steak Pizzaiola as a Sandwich
Before making the Steak Pizzaiola assemble the garlic toast and preheat oven to 425℉. Once the steak has been seared and removed from the pan, toast the garlic bread slices on a cookie sheet in the oven for 10 mins. The bread should be done around the same time as the sauce and then follow steps below for individual portions.
- Make garlic toast.
- Add sliced mozzarella to garlic toast.
- Slice steak and add to garlic toast.
- Top with a spoonful of Pizzaiola Sauce.
Types of Bread for This Italian Beef Sandwich
Steak Pizzaiola can be done with pasta, however making an open-faced sandwich makes for an incredibly delicious dinner because the bread soaks up all the wonderful flavors of the sauce. Here are some of the best breads for this sandwich.
- Tuscan Loaf (as seen in photos).
- Ciabatta (sliced in half to make 2 large slices of garlic bread).
- Baguette (same as the Ciabatta, slice in half).
- Crusty French Bread
More Delicious 30 Min Meals
Creamy Lemon Dill Salmon Pasta
Additional Italian Recipes You’ll Love
Italian Chicken Zucchini Boats
Easy Weeknight Spinach Pesto Gnocchi
Steak Pizzaiola
Ingredients
Garlic Bread
- 1 lb loaf Tuscan bread
- 4 tbsp butter *half stick1/2
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
Steak Pizzaiola Sauce
- 1 1/2 lbs Beef Top Round Steak or Top Sirloin Steak *cut into 6 individual servings
- salt & pepper *for steak, lightly on both sides
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 2-3 anchovy fillets *minced
- 14 Kalamata olives *diced
- 2 tsp capers *left whole
- 2 tbsp minced garlic *about 4-6 large garlic cloves
- 1/2 tbsp dried oregano
- 1/4 tsp red chilli pepper flakes
- 1- 28oz can San Marazano tomatoes *add juice also
- 1 cup fresh oregano *roughly chopped
- 4-5 sprigs fresh rosemary *roughly chopped, about 1/2 cup
Misc
- 12 slices mozzarella cheese
Instructions
Garlic Bread
- Preheat oven to 425℉. Melt butter by either placing in a small sauce pan over low heat or in a microwave safe bowl in the microwave on power level 4 until melted. (Start with 2 mins and slowly add on more.)Once melted stir in salt and garlic powder to the butter and stir well. Spread butter mixture onto 1 side of bread and lay flat on cookie sheet. Bake for 10 mins or until toasted. Remove from oven and set aside.
Steak Pizzaiola
- Heat a large frying pan over high heat and lightly salt and pepper steaks on both sides. See notes below to know when pan is ready.Once pan is heated, sear steaks for approximately 2 mins per side (a nice brown crust should form). Remove steaks from pan and set aside.
- Reduce heat to med/high. Deglaze pan with wine and add anchovies, olives and capers. Simmer for approximatley 2-3 mins making sure to scrape down all browned bits.
- Reduce heat to medium and add garlic, dried oregano and chilli pepper flakes. Simmer for about 1-2 mins.
- Add in the full can of San Marazano tomatoes making sure to break apart whole tomaotes using the back of a spatula. Bring to a simmer for approximately 5 mins, stirring often.
- Stir in fresh herbs. Submerge steaks into sauce and continue simmerring for an addittional 3-4 mins.
Assembly
- Layer each slice of garlic toast with 2 slices of mozzarella cheese, thinely sliced steak and a heaping spoonfull of sauce.
Notes
- For a lighter version of garlic bread, slice bread and spray with a healthy cooking spray. Sprinkle lightly with salt and garlic powder and then bake.Â
- When searing steaks, the pan is ready when the oil starts to have motion in the pan and when the tip of the steak is placed in the pan and makes a sizzling noise. If there is no sizzling noise let the pan heat up a little longer. Be careful to not let the pan get to the smoking point.Â
- The steak thickness should be approximately 3/4 of an inch. If thicker steaks are used, searing times will increase slightly.Â
- Black olives may be substituted for Kalamata olives.
- If sensitive to oregano, lower dried oregano to 1 1/2 tsp and replace fresh oregano with Italian parsley.Â
Nutrition
