(Above: Watch the video to see how Boston Chef Dante de Magistris makes steak pizzaiola in a slow cooker or read the recipe below.)
This is one of my favorite recipes from the weekly Dorm Room Chef series I produced for the Boston Globe. It’s steak pizzaiola made in a slow cooker: easy and delicious.
The idea behind Dorm Room Chef was to get some of the best chefs in the Greater Boston area to make something on camera that a college student could make in their dorm room. I’m not sure how many college students used these recipes, but the video series spawned some recipes that are amazing because they’re delicious and very easy to make, even for novice home cooks.
For this recipe, you just chop a few vegetables, cut up some steak tips, and throw everything into a slow cooker. Three hours later you have what de Magistris calls, “meat candy.” This recipe calls for zucchini and a bell pepper but I’m sure other vegetables would work well too. Feel free to play around with your favorite combinations.
Chef de Magistris says this recipe is all about the pizza man in Naples, Italy. He’s so busy turning out pizzas for his customers that he doesn’t have time to prepare his own meal, so he throws some meat into a pan with some tomato sauce and puts it in the back of his pizza oven. At the end of the day, he has this delicious dish to eat.
Steak Pizzaiola (In a Slow Cooker)
Ingredients
- 2 lbs sirloin flap beef, (steak tips) sliced thin against the grain (about ¼ inch thick)
- 1 tablespoon salt
- ½ teaspoon hot red pepper flakes, (or more if you like it hot)
- ½ teaspoon dry oregano
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons capers, plus some of its juice
- 1 can 12 oz can crushed tomatoes
- ½ cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano or pecorino cheese
- 1 small bunch fresh parsley leaves
- 1 red or green pepper, sliced up
- 1 medium size zucchini, sliced in half moons
Directions
- Step 1 Place all ingredients in a slow cooker, mix it up, put the lid on, turn to high heat, set timer for 3 hours. Serve hot.
