Steak Pizzaiola Love Bomb Sangweech

Chef notes

Growing up in Brooklyn, I ended up eating a lot of Italian food, both at restaurants and at people's homes. And I would start to notice a similarity in certain words. When I heard someone say "steak pizzaiola," my little kid ears perked up and I was hooked. The name actually means the pizza maker's steak. When you look at the flavors of rich, tomato and oregano in the original version of this dish, it makes sense, as they would have had a lot of of those ingredients on hand.

I tried to amp up the umami bomb of it, with instant coffee, a long time "spag bol" (spaghetti Bolognese) hack in the U.K. Because of the intensity of the instant coffee flavor, and because it immediately dissolves into whatever liquid you're cooking it in, you get a huge punch of flavor with just the slightest amount. Serving it on crispy, cheesy semolina garlic bread, is just me cheating in an effort to win your heart and remind your taste buds who is Daddy.

Technique tips: Getting the plum tomatoes whole and crushing them yourself may take more time but usually results in better flavor. Cut your basil quickly by stacking the leaves like pancakes, rolling them up and carefully slicing into small ribbons. And lastly, the better and more marbled the cut of meat you get, the shorter your time to tenderness.

Swap option: For the steak, you can basically do this at any price point. This is a great recipe to use for cheaper cuts like London broil, chuck and top round. If you want to go super fancy and big-time flavor, New York strip is the way to go.