Sicilian Seared Steak on Toast

Oh, caramia. Today we’re cooking up a killer Sicilian inspired steak meal that takes only five core ingredients and oh, I dunno … 15 minutes to whip up? No more than that I can promise you. Bursting with savory, garlicky flavors, this is an easy entertaining meal for the steak lovers in your life. Yes, this Sicilian Seared Steak is a real keeper, and will save any potentially boring mealtime from itself before you can say “godfather.”

Read on for a few details about stovetop steak cookery (as that is what we’re doing today) or you can just jump ahead to the recipe itself.

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What makes it Sicilian?

Well primarily, the ingredient list. We’re talking beef, pesto and extra pignolis, shaved parmesan cheese, Italian bread, and peppery arugula. These ingredients are all screaming Sicily. But mostly? It’s the prevalence and unadulterated usage of olive oil here. So, pour the chianti and limoncello, grab the skinny breadsticks, a bowl full of sweet oranges, and a side of warm citrusy marinated olives and you’ll transport yourself and fellow diners right into the heart of Palermo itself. 

Oh! Definitely do not forget the cannoli. 

Recipe Swaps and Alternate Serving Suggestions

This recipe can be remixed about a million different ways, and what I’ve written here is a just a tasty base from which you can feel free to play and tweak and stretch things as you see fit. My recipe here was inspired by Jamie Oliver, but I’ve prepared the “steak on toast” concept more ways than you can shake a steak at.

Here are a few great swaps you could try:

1. For a Tunisian/Moroccan twist, you could try harissa instead of pesto. You could cut a little bit of spicy harissa paste (North African chili pasta) with some sour cream or tangy yogurt or even mayo or olive oil (some sort of fatty something) and slather that under the toasted bread. Use toasted almonds or walnuts in place of the pine nuts and a mix of fresh cilantro and mint in place of the arugula.
2. For a BBQ spin, you could use your favorite barbecue sauce as the base, topping with some Texas toast in place of Italian bread. Instead of the pine nuts, try crunchy corn nuts and a very simple red cabbage slaw in place of the arugula (just toss red cabbage with salt, EVOO and lots of lime juice).
3. For a Greek-inspired flavor take, you could spread some great hummus or baba ghanoush (garlicky eggplant spread) on the platter and top with grilled pitas or flatbreads. Top with a mix of parsley, dill, and mint and a crunchy shower of toasted sesame seeds and/or toasted walnuts.

Tips for cooking steaks on the stovetop – no myths here!

I’m all for some great grilled meats, sure, but I have never actually grilled anything on an outdoor grill so I’m not (yet) the one to be dishing out any advice or recipes on how to do that. But to be honest, I almost always prefer a pan-seared something over the grilled version of itself. From burgers and chicken to vegetables and yes, steaks, this seems to be a consistent preference of mine.

And so. I have a few good tricks up my sleeve when it comes to stovetop steak cookery, and I think these very easy things – while so subtle as to seem almost insignificant – really do make a difference in the end.

1. Make sure your meat is very, very dry before it ever sees the heat. There are lots of myths out there about the best ways to cook steaks – plenty that I’ve read, taken as absolute gospel, and then applied to my own preparation methodology. But after reading some myth-busting articles like this one, from Serious Eats, I’ve come to know better. Don’t worry about letting your steak come to room temp before cooking it. DO worry about the moisture level of your meat, as this will directly impact the browning that can or cannot occur on the surface (i.e. major flavor opportunity). How to do this? Season your meat generously with salt and pepper and leave it to air dry in the fridge – uncovered – for up to a couple of days, but a minimum of 45 minutes should do the trick. This will evaporate any excess water/moisture that’s clinging to the meat. Hooray! This is some news you can use. 
2. Salt before searing: Now, I mentioned this above, but didn’t explain why. Seeing as how we want to achieve a dry piece of meat before we cook it, salt will aid us in this objective. Salt is a natural dehydrator, and if applied to steak about 45 minutes prior to cooking, will help accomplish the goal in #1 above. It will also helping to actually season the meat. A thick layer of salt applied after cooking really doesn’t do anything but add a … thick layer of saltiness to the whole situation. So, season about 45 minutes to an hour before you plan to sear. Leave the steak uncovered in the fridge to air it the heck out.
3. REST IS BEST. This recipe is for sliced steak, so it behooves us all to really pay heed to this one (I just sounded exactly like my mom). Before we go a slicin’ we need to give the steak a sec to just rest. This allows the juices redistribute all throughout the meat. This will keep those precious juices from spilling out all over the cutting board (that is just so sad). 
4. To really know what temp your steak is, use a good digital meat thermometer, like this one. I like a solid medium rare – very pink in the center. But I realize not everyone likes that. I’m not going to tell you how much/long to cook your steak. That part is truly “to taste.”

What You’ll Need

I’ve been riding the 5-ingredient train pretty hard lately and loving every minute of it. There are few things more satisfying than turning out delicious, crowd-pleasing (and in this case – absolutely stunning) food. Even better? Only having to wrangle a very small and reasonable number of ingredients to do it. In this case, we’re only using 5 core things, with the optional addition of toasted pine nuts.

INGREDIENTS

Sirloin steaks: This is a wonderfully affordable option for steak night, and this cut tends to be overlooked by those of us who tend to lean more toward the ribeye-fillet-NY strip-flank-skirt-tri trip side of things. Ahem. Yes, a simple, no frills, affordable sirloin makes for an absolutely wonder

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon cooking oil, as needed

⅓ cup store-bought basil pesto (amount is flexible; use as much as you want)

4 thick slices Italian bread or bread of your choice, deeply toasted

2 to 3 cups baby arugula

Freshly shaved parmesan cheese, for topping (use as much as you want)

Optional suggestion: ⅓ cup toasted pine nuts (optional)

How to make this Sicilian Seared Steak

This is a very quick and easy recipe – only taking a few minutes to make, really. There is, however, some hands-off time in the beginning, before we ever cook a thing. Just allot about 45 minutes of rest time BEFORE you cook the steaks, so they can season and air dry in the fridge before cooking. Here’s the run-down of the rest of the recipe:

Italian Steak Recipe DIRECTIONS

OPTIONAL PRECOOK STEP: 45 minutes prior to cooking, place the steaks on a plate and season generously with salt and pepper. Leave them uncovered to air dry in the fridge for 45 minutes to 12 hour.

Place the steaks on a cutting board and cover with plastic wrap (that is technically optional). Using a rolling pin or something similar, pound the steaks all over, tenderizing the meat and thinning them out a bit. A thickness of roughly ½ to ¾-inch is great. Season the steaks generously with salt and pepper.

Preheat a skillet or grill pan (preferably cast iron, if you’ve got it) over medium-high to high heat (turn on your exhaust fan and get a splatter screen ready, if you have one). Add a tablespoon of cooking oil. Sear the steaks until deeply, fantastically browned on both sides; takes about 4 minutes per side for medium rare. You can continue to cook the steaks on the stovetop to achieve your doneness level, or place the pan in a 400 degree oven for about 5 minutes to cook them further.

Let the cooked steaks rest for 10 minutes before slicing thin.

TO SERVE

Slather some pesto all over a big serving platter (or you can easily do this on individual plates) and place the toasts on top. Lay the steak slices on top of the toast and top with some arugula and shaved parmesan. If using, scatter some toasted pine nuts over top and serve. 

Please note that you can purchase smaller, individual steaks for this, or a larger steak, since we’re slicing them and dividing the meat between toasts. Just note that the larger the steak, the longer the cook time.

If you like the looks of this Italian steak recipe, you might also want to check out:

Triple Pepper Philly Cheesesteak Skillet

Chicken Cheesesteaks

Chili Garlic Butter Steak Bites

The Perfect Steak

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