Beef Cutlet Milanese with Caper, Roasted Pepper, and Tomato Butter Sauce

It's no secret that I am completely taken with my copy of Carmine's Family-Style Cookbook. I have been cooking a lot of recipes from their book lately. This beef cutlet milanese was interesting to me because I have never butterflied a steak before, nor had I breaded a steak before. Generally speaking, when we have steak it is in the traditional way. We loved all the components in this recipe, so I decided to go for it. I was glad I did. This dish was fun to cook and beautiful to serve. Very colorful on the plate.

Beef Cutlet Milanese with Caper, Roasted Pepper, and Tomato Butter Sauce - adapted from
Carmine's Family-Style Cookbook
Two 8-ounce, thick boneless sirloin steaks, butterflied
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 large eggs
2 cups Carmine's breadcrumbs
grated zest of 1 lemon
salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup vegetable oil
6 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon minced shallots
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock
5 tablespoons Carmine's marinara sauce
2 tablespoons chopped roasted red peppers
2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil
2 teaspoons capers, rinsed and drained
pinch hot red pepper flakes

Using the flat side of a cleaver, a mallet, or a small heavy frying pan, flatten each piece of steak until it is 1/4 inch thick. To make it easier, cover the steak with plastic wrap before flattening it.

Spread the flour on a plate. Whisk the eggs together in a shallow bowl. Combine the bread crumbs and lemon zest in a small bowl and mix them well. Spread the bread crumbs out on a shallow plate.

Lightly season the steaks with salt and pepper.

Coat the steaks on both sides with flour and shake off any excess. Dip the steaks in the egg and let the excess drip off. Coat the steaks completely with the breadcrumbs and press them into the meat to adhere. Set them aside on a tray or large plate.

In a large nonstick pan, heat the oil over med-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the steaks and cook them for about 2-3 minutes or until the bottoms are golden brown. Turn the steaks over and cook the other side for about 2-3 minutes or until it is golden brown. Transfer the steaks to paper towels to drain. Transfer them to a baking sheet and set them aside.

Preheat the oven to 400F.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 1 teaspoon of the butter, add the shallots, and saute them for 1-2 minutes or until they are lightly browned. Add the wine and cook the sauce for about 30 seconds. Add the chicken stock, bring it to a boil, and cook it for 1 minute.

Reduce the heat to low. When the sauce is simmering slowly, use a small whisk to whip the remaining 6 tablespoons of butter into the sauce and cook it for about 2 minutes. Add the marinara sauce, roasted peppers, basil, capers, and red pepper flakes. Season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Remove it from the heat and set it aside.

Transfer the steaks to the oven and bake them for 3-4 minutes or until they are hot. Ladle the sauce onto a large platter, place the steaks on top of the sauce, and serve.


Notes/Results: This is a flavorful recipe with a lot of components and we really enjoyed it. The tomato butter sauce is robust and beautiful on the plate. This recipe was a learning experience for me and I had a lot of fun cooking something different. This is something that I will serve again, when we are craving steak, but not the "traditional steakhouse dinner".