Before the Italian purists skip past the post, head straight to the recipe and leave a comment saying this is not a traditional Bistecca alla Fiorentina, it is important that I mention I am fully aware that a Bistecca alla Fiorentina in the traditional sense is 1-1.5kg in size and is cooked on a charcoal grill. For this Bistecca alla Fiorentina a casa, I’m offering a version of the dish that you can make easily at home for two, without a charcoal grill.
Well, that’s a significant warning for the purists… I should probably add a warning for vegetarians too – but I suspect they’ve already left us.
My bistecca alla Fiorentina uses a thick-cut mini Fiorentina weighing in at 800g (still cut from the loin) purchased from an incredible Italian butcher here in Sydney (Pino’s Dolce Vita Fine Foods – Grazie Pino) and cooked on a cast iron grill pan. In my defence, this blog is all about making cooking at home more accessible, providing recipes full of flavour, and showcasing wonderful produce.
The signature of a great bistecca alla Fiorentina is one that is both charred and richly coloured on the outside, and evenly rare on the inside. If you don’t like your meat rare, do not attempt this dish. If you are a medium-rare steak eater like me… then try this, as you won’t be disappointed. It is such a wonderful dish it doesn’t need anything aside from a brush of oil and lick of salt – the flavour is all in the meat.
However, there are a number of techniques involved in making this dish stellar and below I’ll lay them out for you so that you too can have a wonderful bistecca alla Fiorentina at home.
THE CUT
A good bistecca alla Fiorentina must begin with a great cut of meat. Buy it from a reputable Italian butcher as you will want the steak to have been aged prior to cooking and have a lovely marbling. This mini fiorentina had been aged by Pino for 5 weeks prior to my purchase.
When you bring it home, do not put it in the freezer! Buy it with the intention to cook it within 7 days. If you intend to cook it within 4 days, then place it in your fridge uncovered and brushed liberally on both sides with olive oil – this will create a natural barrier. Don’t wrap it in plastic as it will make the steak sweat, and in Pino’s words “will choke it”.
If you are going to push it over the 4 days, then Pino suggests adding salt with the olive oil so that the salt can act as a further preserver.
COOKING TIPS
- The bistecca alla Fiorentina must be taken out of the fridge and brought to room temperature prior to cooking. This is the first hurdle as if you rush it, your steak will not be evenly rare.
- It needs to be cooked at a high temperature so the outside chars (you want it to char and not burn) and the inside remains rare. This means it will generate smoke so open all your doors and windows, turn on your ceiling fans and be prepared for any sensitive in home fire alarms to protest.
- To start the cooking, I first place it the steak on the grill pan standing on its bone (like the photo below), this transfers heat through the bone to warm the middle of the steak through first and softens the fat that is marbled through the steak.
- When handling the steak, don’t use an implement that will piece the flesh. Ensure you handle it gently, carefully and minimally – I used plastic ended tongs.
- After cooking, it has to rest. This is so that the fibres can relax and the juices inside can evenly distribute. I do this by putting my oven on the warm setting, wrapping it in foil and allowing it to rest in the warm environment for 8 minutes (800g) or 10-15minutes for a larger cut.
Bistecca alla Fiorentina a Casa | Florentine Steak at home
Ingredients
- 800g mini Fiorentina steak (or a 1Kg Fiorentina steak)
- 2 large sprigs rosemary
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Sea salt flakes, to taste
Directions
Heat oven to 150° Celsius (300° Fahrenheit)
Preheat a cast iron grill pan, large enough to fit your Fiorentina steak, over high heat. When the pan is very hot, brush the olive oil onto the base of the pan with the rosemary sprigs.
Place the steak on the grill pan standing on the base of its bone and leave for 12 minutes (15 minutes for a larger cut) to heat the inside of the steak and relax the fat fibres.
Leaving the heat on very high, cook the steak for 4 minutes each side (5-6 minutes for a large cut), turning gently with tongs only once.
Remove from the heat and wrap in foil, then turn your oven off and place the steak in the warmed oven to rest for 10 minutes (12-15 minutes for a large cut).
After resting, cut off the bone and into pieces, then drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and serve.
I like the tip to start the steak on end! I usually start steaks on the stovetop (or sometimes the grill), and then finish them in the oven. Really thick steaks, in particular, need to be finished in the oven IMO — otherwise the surface and immediate interior overcooks, and sometimes the interior doesn’t cook enough (I’m a medium-rare person, too).
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Agreed! Heating up the bone first is a true bistecca thing and only works because the cut is so thick, so its stands up without you having to hold it up with tongs. It definitely helps with evenness, given the cut is served rare.
Such a beautiful steak. The Mr. is a huge steak fan (our date before he left for Shanghai was a steakhouse) so I am pretty sure I would win wife of the year award if this was waiting for him when he returned. Sadly, our apartment has the most sensitive fire alarm known to mankind (I’m sure the fire department can attest to this as it seems they are here every week) so I think I will need to reserve this beautiful recipe for a time after our move.
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Oh goodness! you would struggle then given the sensitivity of your alarm. The best would be to cook it outside on a charcoal grill or your BBQ which is how it is intended anyway. We have our alarm in the corridor and not directly in the kitchen as it is super-sensitive too!
I’ve never seen meat look so gorgeous! I love the concept of stove top grilling, too, it’s so much quicker and easier than setting up the outdoor grill.
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Thanks Sue! I’m all for ease, and never seem to have time for the outdoor grill so I’m always looking for alternatives!
This kinda reminds me of what we had during our sumptuous lunch recently. Bloody marvellous for us meat lovers!
Haha! It is. And it’s inspired by our lunch. Sara and I went a couple of weeks later and I bought the cut to replicate it at home. Carla (Pino’s Daughter) has given it the thumbs up!
Yum! Loving the look of this steak. Standing it on the bone is a clever idea.
The bone thing really does work! x
Gorgeous photos! This steak looks absolutely divine. I think it’s well worth any squealing alarm of smoke billowing out windows if THIS is the end result haha. I’ve never attempted to cook steak before, much less a particular cut like this, so thanks for the cooking suggestions especially bringing it up to room temperature and cooking through the bone first.
Thanks Laura. I completely agree re the smoke alarm! The key is to always bring all meat up to room temp before cooking – it will always cook more evenly.
Oh this looks spectacular! Love the idea of grilling on the stove top!
Thanks Diana! I’m always grilling on the stove top… I’m too lazy to go outside! 😉
Oh my Amanda!! You did good girl. This looks so so good
Haha Thanks Swayam. Love being called ‘girl’ makes me feel young again. x
Wow… this is simply stunning. You have some impressive skills when cooking some beef!
Haha thanks Ramona. All you need is good tips for cooking it and its easy!
from Italy and loving it, of course it is a bistecca alla fiorentina ;-). I once had it with cheakpeas, delicious.
Thanks Claudia! All I needed was to hear that from a fellow Italian 😉 Love the sound of it with chickpeas!
Thanks for the tips. The way I’ve seen it before the steak goes right from the pan onto a plate of olive oil with rosemary so it’s hot when it hits the oil. I’ll try this oven trick. I never heard of standing it on end so I’ll give that a go too. Cheers.