Steak with puttanesca sauce
30 min
This is a really quick recipe for dressing up lean rump steak. A gutsy tomato sauce, boosted with anchovies and capers, is made in the same pan, and all that's needed is some crusty French bread and a side salad for a deliciously easy meal.
Maggie Pannell
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Ingredients
Serves: 4
- 25g anchovies, drained
- 2 tbsp semi-skimmed milk
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 red onion, roughly chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
- 350g cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 tbsp bottled capers, rinsed
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 4 lean rump steaks, about 115g each
Method
Prep:10min ›
Cook:20min ›
Ready in:30min
- Lay the anchovies flat in a small dish, spoon over the milk and leave to soak while you begin preparing the sauce. (This soaking will remove a lot of the saltiness from the anchovies to give a mellower flavour.)
- Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a large, heavy-based, ridged frying pan, add the onion and cook gently for 3–4 minutes until softened.
- Stir in the garlic and chilli, then add the tomatoes, capers and oregano. Drain off and discard the milk from the anchovies, roughly chop the anchovies and add to the sauce. Stir around and cook gently for 5 minutes or until the tomatoes are lightly cooked. Tip the sauce out into a bowl and set aside while cooking the steaks.
- Rinse out the pan and reheat. Brush the steaks lightly on both sides with the remaining oil and season with some freshly ground black pepper. Place the steaks in the hot pan and cook on a moderately high heat for 2–3 minutes on each side for rare (4–6 minutes on each side for medium).
- Pour the sauce over the steaks in the pan and heat through, then serve immediately.
variations
This sauce is equally good served with pan-fried skinless chicken breasts or chunky white fish steaks, such as cod or haddock. * For a vegetarian option, leave out the anchovies and serve the sauce with pasta or cheesy potato cakes.
