Spaghetti Pizzaiola

OK the Pizza on the left is a missleading clue to the origins of this sauce, or perhaps given the name, it has to be assumed, or it is at least nice to think, that this sauce originated from someone who worked in a neapolitan pizza joint, and had left-over sauce to use up. And so invented this delightful recipe.

More likely however, is that the sauce is so-named "Pizzaiola" because it contains all the flavours used in a traditonal pizza topping sauce, namely oregano, tomatoes etc.  My family however have always made it with the addition of black olives, and to my taste it fits nicely. Feel free however to omit them if you want to try the more original version.

In my version given below I have used rump steak (but any nice cut of beef will do) and then sliced it into thin strips to go with the pasta I was serving it with. Also please note, if your going to be serving it with pasta, the pasta should not be swimming in sauce, but enough to coat the pasta is usually sufficient.

However the steak could have been left in a whole piece and served that way with a suitable side, maybe a salad, or cooked vegetable.  The real beauty of this sauce, is that it ticks all the versatility boxes. This sauce would have been equally delicious cooked with something other than meat, we have made it with a nice fillet of Cod in the past, but you could even go vegetarian and use slices of Courgette or Aubergine.

As with practically everything Italian this is incredibly easy to make, and uses simple ingredients.  I would recommend using the best possible quality of tinned tomatoes though, given that the majority of the taste is dependant upon this, but it isn't that critical.


INGREDIENTS:
(Serves 4)

1 tablespoon of olive oil
8-12oz piece of Rump Steak or equivalent,
4 cloves of garlic finely diced,
500g tomatoes (regular sized can),
1 teaspoon of Oregano
12 black olives, stoned, halved
salt and pepper to season


METHOD:

-Heat a frying pan, add the olive oil, and once the oil is upto temperature drop the steak in, and colour it. 

-Next add the garlic, black olives, tinned tomatoes together with their juice and the oregano and stir gently so as to coat the meat.  Cover and simmer gently for approximately  30 or so minutes, or longer if using a cheap cut of meat. 

-At this point  we cooked some spaghetti and served the sauce with it.  First slicing the steak into thin strips so it could be easily eaten with a fork.  Yes, time for another shockingly bad photo!

SERVING SUGGESTION:

Aside from serving the sauce with meat, omitting the pasta. Fish is also delicious cooked in this way, and can be served with a side of boiled new potatoes, perhaps dressed with oil and rosemary.  Enjoy!