Delicious tender beef cooked to perfection with peppers, onions, and garlic in a flavorful tomato sauce. For the ultimate meal serve over mashed potatoes!
Course: Main Course
Level: Easy
Prep: 30 mins
Cooking: 2 hr
Total: 2 hr 30 mins
Yield: 4 servings
Special equipment
- 6-quart thick-walled Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid
- Meat mallet
- Heavy-Duty plastic wrap
- Cutting board
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- Kosher salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 pounds (¾ to 1 inch thick) Bottom Round, Chuck or Sirloin Steak
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and sliced
- 1 fresh serrano pepper, seeded and finely chopped
- 1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed, peeled and finely chopped
- 1/2 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 (28-ounce) can good-quality diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed (preferably Mexican or Greek oregano)
- 1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- Chopped fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley (leaves only), for garnish, optional
- Mashed potatoes, for serving.
Directions
- Put flour in a shallow dish and season it with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- On a cutting board, cut meat into 4 equal size pieces and season on both sides with salt and pepper.
- Dredge one of the pieces of meat in the seasoned flour, coating both sides. Put the piece of meat between 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Using a meat mallet, pound it to an even thickness, about 1/2-inch thick. Dredge the meat in the seasoned flour one more time, liberally coating all sides. Then shake to remove off any excess. Arrange meat in a single layer in a shallow dish and repeat process with the remaining pieces of meat.
- In a 6-qt Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat until just smoking. Working in 2 batches, add meat in and cook until browned all over, about 2 minutes per side. As the meat browns, transfer to a plate leaving drippings (fat) in the pot.
- After all, 4 pieces of meat are browned, add the peppers, onion and celery to drippings. Season well with salt and pepper. Cook until the vegetables are crisp-tender, about 6 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute.
- Add the tomato paste and stir to combine. Sauté for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the canned tomatoes into the pot along with the juice. Stir well scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to get all the flavorful bits off the bottom; cook for 3 to 5 minutes stirring often.
- Add the oregano and Worcestershire sauce and stir to combine.
- Add the browned meat and any juices that collected on the plate into the pot. Make sure that the meat is flat and down in the sauce. Bring to a rapid simmer. Cover and reduce heat to the lowest possible setting. Cook until fork tender and falling apart, about 1 ½ to 2 hours.
- Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper, only if needed.
- Serve over mashed potatoes and garnish with chopped parsley if desire.