One of the rites of summer is undoubtedly cooking a nice thick steak on the grill.  Ribeye is my favorite cut because I find it’s the most flavorful and succulent, especially when well marbled.  Using a thick ribeye makes it possible to get a nice crust formed while keeping the inside rare and tender, something you can’t easily do with a thin steak.  A 1 ¼-inch thick steak can weigh over a pound, though, and that’s too much meat for our stomachs.  In Italy, steak is usually served sliced and we call it tagliata, meaning “cut”.  This way, two thick ribeyes can serve four people.  Another advantage to slicing it is that you can toss the meat with hot olive oil and herbs, making it even more delicious.  We like to vary the herbs we use.  Sometimes I simply heat the olive oil with whole garlic cloves and rosemary sprigs, then discard them and briefly toss the meat in the pan with the flavored olive oil.  Another way is to toss it in a pan with sautéed finely chopped parsley and garlic, which is how we prepared it last night.  Be careful not to let the garlic brown, however, or it will become bitter.  Add the sliced steak to the pan as soon as garlic begins to sizzle.  Serve with some sweet white corn on the cob and a nice salad, and you have the quintessential summer meal, but with an Italian twist!

Photo by Giuliano Hazan

Tagliata with Garlic and Parsley

© Giuliano Hazan

Serves 4 people

1 medium garlic clove

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

5-6 springs flat leaf Italian parsley

2 boneless rib-eye steaks, cut about 1 1/4 inches thick (about 2 ½ pounds total weight)

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1.  Preheat a charcoal or gas grill.

2.  Peel and finely chop the garlic.  Finely chop enough parsley leaves to measure about 2 tablespoons.

3.  Generously sprinkle sea salt and black pepper on both sides of the steaks.  Grill for about 5 minutes on each side for rare steak, bearing in mind that after it is sliced, the meat will be briefly exposed to heat in the skillet.

4.  Put the garlic, parsley and olive oil in a large skillet.  Place over medium high heat and sauté until the garlic begins to sizzle, then lower the heat to low.  While the garlic and parsley are sautéing, transfer the steaks to a cutting board and cut on a bias into 1/4” slices.  After you have turned the heat under the skillet down to low, add the sliced steak and toss until it is well coated.  Serve at once.