Steak Pizzaiola
Inexpensive AND delicious? I’ll take it!
My 85 year old father is a retired chef and steak pizzaiola, or meat in a “pizza style” is a dish he has made our family for decades. It’s so yummy and is a meal your family is sure to love! My father was coming over for dinner last night and requested that I make it for dinner. I explained that would be no problem, he would just need to tell me how to make it! Like I said, HE made it for decades!! We had a good laugh and he gave me his simple recipe for steak pizzaiola. The good news is it turned out delicious. We added a pound of rigatoni pasta to the steak and sauce, and the meal became an inexpensive dinner for six. When I thought about it later, I couldn’t believe I spent $12 for the steaks, $4 for the cans of tomatoes, $2 for the pasta and maybe $5-10 for the remaining ingredients (garlic, wine, oregano, olive oil, sugar, salt). I had the “other ingredients” so I really just spent $18 to make a great dinner!
The steak used in this dish is boneless top blade chuck. You’ll notice veins run through it and they are fairly thin in size. I found it at our local grocery store, but when I asked for steak to make steak pizzaiola, the man working looked confused. Lucky for me, another worker knew what I wanted and said, “A lot of people call it chicken steak.” So, if you can’t find it by it’s name ask for chicken steak! Here is a picture of what it looks like and notice the inexpensive price. Also, I used two cans of TuttoRosso crushed tomatoes as pictured below.
*The key to keeping the meat tender is to only cook it slightly on both sides and then remove it from the pan. You will not return it to the pan until the sauce is boiling. The other thing to remember is to cook this on a low flame for an hour. Do not try to raise the gas on the stove as you will not get the same results.
Buon appetito!
Nicole xo
These are the products I used for this recipe. These are affiliate links, but I only display what I actually use and recommend.
- 2 packages Boneless Top Blade Chuck (Chicken Steak)
- 2 (28 oz.) cans TuttoRosso Crushed Tomatoes
- 3 Tablespoons olive oil
- 3 pieces of chopped garlic
- 1 cup of white wine
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp of sugar
- 1 lb rigatoni pasta
- salt to taste
- grated pecorino romano cheese (optional)
- In a heavy saucepan, heat the olive oil and add the steak.
- Cook on medium heat for two minutes and then turn.
- When both sides are lightly cooked, remove the meat from the pot.
- Add the chopped garlic and let simmer for 30 seconds.
- Add the white wine and let it cook down for two minutes.
- Add the crushed tomatoes to the pan but before discarding the cans, fill one of the cans half way with warm tap water. Swirl the water around and pass the water between the two cans to remove all of the tomato remnants from both cans.
- Pour the water into the pan.
- Add the sugar and salt and bring the sauce to a boil.
- Once the sauce is boiling, return the meat to the pan and lower to a simmer.
- Stir occasionally during the next hour.
- After thirty minutes boil water for your pasta and salt the water once it starts boiling.
- Add your pasta and cook 12-14 minutes.
- While the pasta is cooking, add the oregano to the sauce and give it a quick stir.
- After one hour, remove the meat and add the cooked pasta to the sauce pan.
- Stir to combine and serve immediately.
