Traditional Pizzaiola-Style Meat. This is one of those recipes that must be followed to the letter. From the Neapolitan tradition, a main course where sopping up with good bread becomes almost obligatory. It’s called ‘Pizzaiola’ because it has the same ingredients as marinara pizza sauce: oil, garlic, tomato, and oregano. Optionally, there are capers and olives which you can freely add. I wanted to make the recipe as it was originally, without capers and olives. Naturally, with the same sauce, I recommend enjoying pasta, be it spaghetti or any other shape, it’s the sauce that’s the king of this first course. But let’s get back to the main course. Usually, for pizzaiola, veal is chosen, specifically the rump, round, or topside, favoring cuts that are not too lean. As for cooking, many advocate quick cooking of the meat if it’s super thin, it also depends a lot on the meat. In my case, it wasn’t very thin, and I opted for long cooking, around 1 hour. The result was nothing short of excellent! Then there are always many schools of thought, whether to cook and seal the meat a little before inserting it into the sauce or to pour it directly raw into the sauce. I always prefer to seal the meat after pounding and scoring it at the sides to prevent it from curling during cooking, and then inserting it into the slightly reduced sauce. As for the sauce, I prefer to sieve the peeled tomatoes because I don’t particularly like tomato seeds, but if they don’t bother you, you can skip this step. Of course, you might ask: but couldn’t you just use passata? The answer is no, because the taste of peeled tomatoes is not the same as tomato passata, at least when I make any sauce, I feel a big difference in flavor. In short, friends, like all Neapolitan recipes, this one is irresistibly good. Try it!!!!
Read also
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Very Cheap
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
- Energy 248.16 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 4.63 (g) of which sugars 3.11 (g)
- Proteins 19.62 (g)
- Fat 16.80 (g) of which saturated 6.09 (g)of which unsaturated 9.21 (g)
- Fibers 2.42 (g)
- Sodium 351.30 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 150 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 4 slices veal (rump, round or topside)
- 500 g peeled tomatoes (San Marzano)
- 1 clove garlic
- q.b. dried oregano (I recommend using generously)
- q.b. salt
- q.b. extra virgin olive oil
- q.b. pepper
Tools
- 2 Pans
Steps
The first thing to do is to pound and flatten the meat and slightly score the sides to prevent it from curling during cooking.
Exactly as shown in the photo.
In a bowl, pour the peeled tomatoes and crush them by hand.
I then chose to sieve them to remove the seeds, which I don’t particularly like, but you can skip this step if you wish.
This gave me a smooth passata.
Pour the olive oil into a pan.
Add the garlic and sauté it slightly without burning it.
Pour in the sauce.
Add salt and oregano.
Meanwhile, in another pan, lightly seal the meat with some olive oil for a few minutes on each side, just long enough for the liquid to come out.
A few minutes on each side, just enough for the liquid to come out. Season with salt and pepper.
At this point, pour the meat into the sauce, which will have reduced a bit by now.
Add the meat liquid to the sauce.
Continue cooking in the pan for about 60 minutes. The duration depends greatly on the cut of meat your trusted butcher provides. Mine wasn’t very thin. So if the meat is very thin, you can cook for about 20 minutes; if it’s thick like mine, 1 hour.
Pour onto a serving dish, dress with its sauce, and enjoy this pizzaiola-style meat with guaranteed scooping.
