Steak night and pasta night, solved in one pan

Naples worked out the answer to lean steak long before the rest of us: don't fight it with more heat — give it a sauce to finish in. Carne alla pizzaiola sears thin topside steaks hard and fast, then slips them into a garlicky tomato and oregano sauce for a few gentle final minutes, so the meat stays tender and the sauce picks up every scrap of pan flavour. You end up with dinner twice over — steaks and crusty bread tonight, and a sauce that was born for tomorrow's spaghetti.

35 mins 4 servings Prep 10 minsCook 25 minsMain CourseItalian

Ingredients

  • 460g Your Farmer grass-fed topside steaks
  • Salt and pepper to season
  • 3 tbsp olive oil — 2 for the steaks, 1 for the sauce
  • 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • 400g can crushed tomatoes
  • 125ml water (swirled around the tomato can)
  • 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
  • Pinch of chilli flakes (optional)
  • A few fresh basil leaves, to serve (optional)
  • Crusty bread, or cooked spaghetti, to serve

Instructions

Pat the steaks dry and season both sides.

460g topside steaks

Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large frying pan over high heat and sear the steaks 45–60 seconds per side — just coloured, nowhere near cooked through. Set aside on a plate.

2 tbsp olive oil

Lower the heat to medium, add the remaining oil and the garlic, and cook for 1 minute until fragrant but not browned.

1 tbsp olive oil4 cloves garlic

Add the tomatoes, water, oregano and chilli flakes, season, and simmer for 12–15 minutes until slightly thickened.

400g crushed tomatoes1 1/2 tsp oreganochilli flakes

Slide the steaks and their resting juices back into the pan, spoon sauce over the top, and simmer very gently for 2–3 minutes — the sauce should barely blip, never boil.

Tear over the basil and serve straight from the pan with crusty bread — or slice the steaks and toss everything through hot spaghetti.

basil leavescrusty bread

Appears in

Your Farmer CSA grass-fed beef share — vacuum-sealed steaks, roasts, mince and sausages, paddock-to-plate NSW & ACT delivery
CSA Grass Fed Beef Share
From $176.67

The Two Speeds of Topside

Topside is one of the leanest cuts on the animal — fine-grained, hardly any fat, honest as the day is long. Lean like that gives you two speeds and nothing in between: blazing fast in a hot pan, or gentle and protected in liquid. The clever thing about pizzaiola — "pizza-maker's style", from the same Naples pantry that tops the pizzas — is that it uses both. A hard sear builds the browned crust and leaves flavour stuck to the pan, then the tomato sauce lifts every bit of it while the steaks finish with a whisper of heat. That gentle finish is the whole game: at a bare simmer the Your Farmer® thin-cut steaks from the grass-fed beef CSA share stay tender and juicy, but let the sauce gallop and they'll tighten up in a minute. If low and slow is more your evening, topside's other gear is the low-oven roast — same lean logic, different clock.

Swaps and Variations

Round steaks from the same share behave identically here. Passata works in place of crushed tomatoes for a smoother sauce — use about 400ml and skip the extra water. To push it toward puttanesca, add a handful of pitted olives and a spoon of capers with the tomatoes. And the family-favourite version: lay a little torn mozzarella over the steaks for the final 2 minutes with a lid on, and you're halfway to a parmigiana without a crumb in sight.

Storage and Leftovers

Pizzaiola keeps well — 3 days in the fridge in an airtight container, or 2 months in the freezer — and like most tomato-braised things it tastes even more like itself the next day. Reheat gently in a covered pan over low heat, adding a splash of water so the sauce loosens before the steak warms through. The classic second act is pasta: slice the leftover steak, warm it in the sauce, and toss through spaghetti with a ladle of pasta water. Or pile steak and sauce into a crusty roll and stand over the sink like you've earned it. Ready for a freezer that always has the makings? Reserve your share.

Frequently asked questions

Can the steaks simmer in the sauce for longer?

No — thin lean steaks toughen if they cook on past a few gentle minutes. Get the sauce fully cooked first, then treat the steaks' return as a warm-through, not a braise.

Can I make the sauce ahead of time?

Yes, up to 3 days ahead in the fridge. Reheat it to a bare simmer, then sear the steaks fresh and finish them in the sauce as written — the dish comes together in about 10 minutes that way.

Crushed tomatoes or passata — does it matter?

Either works. Crushed tomatoes give a chunkier, more rustic sauce; passata gives a smooth one. With passata, use about 400ml and leave out the extra water.

What should I serve it with?

Crusty bread and a green salad is the traditional route, but spaghetti, soft polenta or mash all catch the sauce beautifully. If you're going pasta, slice the steaks first so every forkful gets some.

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