How to Cook a Great Italian Dinner in 20 Minutes

It's one of those days. Joe is running late at work, and if I'm lucky, I'm going to have an hour to cook dinner and get out to my evening meeting. We get home, and I have 30 minutes to cook, eat, get ready, and leave. I had planned to make Pan-fried Steaks with Tomatoes and Olives.

You can't possibly do this in time, Joe says.

Watch me, I said.

All I had eaten that day was a bowl of cereal and a frozen pad thai dinner. I was going to eat that steak, and no one was going to stop me.

With an uncanny premonition that time would be short, make the following advance preparations...

- purchase almost 2 lbs of steak suitable for pan frying. To save time, have the butcher slice it thin, say 1/4 inch or so (must be under 1/2 inch thick). Lots of leftovers! Yah!

- purchase pre-pitted kalamata olives

- purchase a baguette to go with dinner. Be really lucky and get the last baguette.

- have canned, diced Italian tomatoes at home, plus onion, garlic, and oregano

Pan-fried Steak with Tomatoes and Olives
0) If your steak slices are thick, you'll need to flatten them first and slit the edges so the meat doesn't curl while cooking. Mine were very thin, so I skipped this step and saved a lot of time.

1) Heat 3-4 Tbs olive oil in a large pan.

2) Slice one medium onion in thin half circles. Add them to the pan.

3) While onion cooks (stir occasionally), thinly slice 4 garlic cloves. Open can of tomatoes and measure out around 1 to 1/3 cup tomatoes.

4) When onion is pale gold, add garlic. Stir.

5) When garlic is pale yellow, add tomatoes, olives, and 1/2 tsp of dried oregano (1 tsp fresh). Stir. Cook 15 minutes.

6) Quickly quarter about 24 olives. Remember to stir the sauce.

7) While sauce is cooking, heat cast iron pan until hot. Swipe with a bit of vegetable oil.

8) Wait long enough for sauce to be almost done, then cook steak slices a few seconds on each side. Sprinkle with salt and pepper as you turn them. Nibble on small bits and swoon, because few things beat medium-rare steak fresh off the pan and still sizzling.

9) When oil floats free of sauce, add olives and cook 1 more minute.

10) Transfer meat to sauce pan and coat the meat slices.

11) Serve on warm platter

12) Do not take the time to photograph the dish for the blog.

13) Load up with food and stuff face quickly. Tell yourself you'll get the enjoy the leftovers at a more leisurely pace tomorrow. Run out the door, running only 5 minutes late but confident that a sufficiently fast car can get you anywhere on time.

Recipe from Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.

Comments

[chefyamabushi]

Great blogging. Just found this site. Being also obsessed with food, I can't help but put in my two cents on the pan steak. I would try pouring the sauce into the pan with the steak... the acid in the sauce will deglaze the meat pan and soak up all those glorious brown bits. Don't leave it that hot saute pan longer than the time it takes to scrape the bottom (maybe turn off the heat before you dump in the sauce). Drawback to this method might be little tomato bits on the ceiling. You could also transfer the meat to the sauce pan, then deglaze the meat pan with a little red wine, reduce, then work the meaty redux into the dish before service. Personally, I'd finish it with a basil chiffonade or a big pinch of parsley.

Oh, god, now I've got to eat something and fast.

[Kitchen Chick]

Glad you enjoyed my blog. Domo arigato, Wandering Monk. I really enjoy Marcella Hazan's cookbooks, and this is one of my favorite recipes of hers. Steak, tomatoes, and olives... three of my favorite foods! Can you get good olives in Japan?

Jya ne!

[chefyamabushi]

Marcella should be canonized. Good olives can be obtained in Japan, along with a limited selection of cheeses and the like, for the low, low price of one arm and one leg. Being here is a joy in that I get to try new things, food-wise, on a daily basis. However, being here is a real drag in that I can't get so many ingredients for all my faves (or the kitchen space to put them together). The greatest frustration is the almost complete lack of fresh herbs (though I'll be dropping precious yen at the garden centers before the rainy season sets in). Kudos on not asking the question, "What's a yamabushi?"

Cheers
R

[Kitchen Chick]

Nihongo wa chyotto wakarimasu yo. (But just a very very little. My Japanese classes were a long time ago.)

[chefyamabushi]

Sugee-jyan. Go-shujin-to tatzune-ni kitara, muryou-de tomaru-tokoro-ga aru-ne.

[Kitchen Chick]

Sumimasen. I apologize if I misunderstood. I think you invited me and my husband to visit if we ever get to Japan. (Told you my Japanese was bad.) If so, then thank you very much. Domo arigatoo.

You should know, the last time a near stranger invited us to visit him overseas (England in this case), we took him up on the offer. (He's a good friend of ours now.) Though I can't honestly say when Japan will be in our future, though we both want to visit.

[chefyamabushi]

No, it's true. I love hosting visitors here, despite my occasionally bizarre work schedule. It wouldn't be the first time I took in strangers, and I haven't been burned yet.

[Kitchen Chick]

Well, then, if we have a chance to visit Japan, we'll let you know.

[arun gera]

I want to learn italian food cooking.are there any classes conducted in delhi india
help me if possible
regards

arun gera

[Kitchen Chick]

I've never been to Delhi (I would love to see it someday) and can't advise on cooking classes there. Try asking at Italian restaurants in Delhi such as Travertino. (In the US, some restaurants offer cooking classes). If there are any Italian language schools, you might also ask there as well as they are likely knowledgable about other Italian resources in the area.

Otherwise, try looking for Italian cookbooks that feature lots of pictures.

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