Beef Scallops with Fresh Tomato Sauce
Beef scallops with fresh tomato sauce: top round steak pounded paper-thin, pan-seared, then napped with a quick sauce of fresh tomatoes, green onions, and basil. The Italian veal-scaloppini technique applied to budget beef.
YIELD
8 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
20 minREADY
40 minBeef scallops are the budget-conscious cook’s answer to veal scaloppini. Take a tough cut like top round steak, pound it to almost paper thin, and suddenly you have tender, fast-cooking pieces of beef that pick up flavor like a sponge. The technique transforms a $5 cut into something restaurant-worthy.
The pounding is the entire point. Beat the steak to one-eighth-inch thickness, no thicker, with a meat mallet or the dull edge of a French knife. Thin meat cooks in seconds, stays tender, and lets the fresh tomato sauce shine instead of fighting through chewy beef.
Fresh tomatoes are non-negotiable for this sauce. Blanch and peel them so the skins don’t get stringy in the pan. Chop most of them for the sauce body, slice the rest for last-minute warming so you keep some texture and bright fresh-tomato flavor in every bite.
Work in batches when searing. Crowding the skillet drops the temperature and the beef steams instead of browning. A few pieces at a time, transferred to a warm platter, is the only way to develop the crust this dish needs.
Pro Tips
- Pound between two sheets of plastic wrap to keep the meat from tearing and the counter from getting splattered.
- Get the oil smoking-hot before adding the beef. A cold pan equals gray, sad meat; a screaming pan equals a proper sear.
- Don’t overcook the sliced tomatoes added at the end. They should warm through and hold their shape, not collapse into the sauce.
Variations
Ingredients
Directions
About 45 minutes before serving: On cutting board with meat mallet or dull edge of French knife, pound each beef top round steak to ⅛ inch thickness.
Cut steaks into about 6 x 3-inch pieces.
In 3-quart saucepan over high heat, heat 3-inches water to boiling; add tomatoes.
Cook 30 seconds.
With slotted spoon, remove tomatoes to large bowl of cold water; remove from water and slip off skins.
Cut out stem end.
Chop 3 tomatoes; slice remaining 2 tomatoes.
Set aside.
In 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat in hot salad oil cook steak, a few pieces at a time, until browned on both sides with pancake turner, removing pieces to warm platter as they brown.
Keep steaks warm.
Reduce heat to medium. To same skillet add chopped tomatoes, green onions, sugar, salt and basil.
In cup with spoon, mix cornstarch and ½ cup water until smooth; gradually stir cornstarch mixture into tomato mixture and cook, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and boils; cook 1 minute.
Add sliced tomatoes; heat through. Gently spoon tomato mixture over and around steaks.
Makes 8 servings.
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