Flank Steak Peperonata
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So, hi.
Apologies for my nearly month-long absence. I can offer much in the way of excuses (everything from laziness, to taking a trip, to temporarily losing my camera cord, to being all-too-absorbed in Stranger Things) but let’s just move along, shall we?
I’ll probably be doing a non-recipe/life update post here soon but the short of it is life is busy. I feel like I need a couple sister wives to lessen the load. For that reason, quick meals are good.
I have made many mentions of my affinity for something like “big piece of meat + relish/salsa/topping” on here. This fits the bill. You make a quick peperonata and serve it alongside some simply pan-roasted steak. The peperonata is so delicious. In some ways it reminds me of tourlou (with fewer vegetables, obviously) but it has this wonderful depth of flavor and almost slow-cooked taste despite having a very short cook time. The peppers get nice and sweet, the capers lend that great salty brininess and the basil just freshens and perks everything up.
The kids waver on peppers, but because the yellow peppers turned orange-y as they cooked, Ian ate them (orange being his favorite color and all) and Zachary also enjoyed this even though he tends to prefer raw peppers. Also, they can eat their weight in steak, which is mildly disturbing.
This is a fairly quick meal as-is, but you can make the peperonata a day or two in advance to make this an even quicker meal. This has definitely entered whatever constitutes a “rotation” in our house.
Flank Steak Peperonata
Ingredients
- 1 (2-pound) flank steak
- 2 tsp. dried oregano
- 1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 red bell peppers, stemmed/seeded, and cut into 1/4″-wide strips
- 2 yellow bell peppers, stemmed/seeded, and cut into 1/4″-wide strips
- 1 onion, quartered through root end and sliced crosswise into 1/4″-wide strips
- 6 garlic cloves, crushed or minced
- 1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes
- 2 Tbsp. capers plus 4 ttsp. caper brine
- 1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
Directions
- Cut steak lengthwise with grain into 3 equal pieces [I made half this recipe, so I didn’t bother cutting the steak since it fit well in the pan]. Combine oregano and 2 teaspoons kosher salt in a small bowl. Season steaks all over with mixture, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 24 hours.
- Heat 1/4 cup oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add red and yellow bell peppers, onion, garlic, and 1 teaspoon salt. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in diced tomatoes (along with their juice), capers and brine, and red pepper flakes. Continue to cook, uncovered, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer peperonata to bowl and cover to keep warm.
- Wipe out the skillet. Pat steaks dry with paper towels and season with pepper to taste. Heat remaining tablespoon of olive oil in the empty skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Cook steaks until desired level of doneness (about 5-6 minutes per side for medium-rare. Allow steaks to rest on a cutting board for 10 minutes before slicing thinly on a bias against the grain.
- Stir basil into peperonata and serve with the steaks.