Steak strips in marinara sauce with bubble and squeak

If you don’t enjoy a huge chunk of steak on your plate, but you do enjoy the taste of beef, you are going to love this recipe. It’s made with tender fingers of steak, fried until crispy in a delicate coating of cornflour, and then cooked to perfection in a delicious sauce. Serve steak strips in marinara sauce with French fries or vegetables, or try it with my tasty recipe for bubble and squeak.

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Origin of this recipe

I invented this recipe for steak strips in marinara sauce many years ago when I lived in South Africa. South Africans are very big meat eaters and great lovers of a barbeque. All the supermarkets over there sell what is called ‘Texan steaks’. These are massive cuts of spicy marinated beef, cut through an entire leg, and about one and a half inches thick. One of these steaks can quite easily fill the entire barbeque grill. They are great for feeding a huge crowd, the idea being that you fire up the barbeque and then cook the piece of meat over the coals. Once cooked, the meat is cut into chunks and served with salads and bread rolls.

I personally wasn’t a lover of Texan steaks because I found them a bit too spicy, and sometimes they could be quite tough. Also, I much prefer a small portion of sliced meat rather than a huge chunk. To get around this, I would make a marinara sauce, cut the cooked steak into thin slices and cover it with the sauce.

The benefits of serving the steak in this way were many:

• firstly you could take the amount you wanted rather than be presented with a huge chunk of meat;
• secondly, the sauce toned down the heat from the spices somewhat; and
• thirdly, slicing the meat into thinner strips made it more tender.

Friends and family loved it, and soon this became our go-to method of preparing Texas steaks.

Over the years, this recipe has evolved into the recipe that I am sharing today (steak strips in marinara sauce) and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Instead of using a huge slab of steak, this recipe calls for a normal-sized rump steak, which is cut into slices and coated in seasoned cornflour (or cornstarch) before being fried until the outer coating is browned and crispy, but leaving the steak juicy and succulent. Once fried, the steak fingers are covered with a delicious marinara sauce

You can serve these finger steaks with French fries or fried potatoes, but they are equally good when served with a mixture of vegetables. My favourite way of serving them is with bubble and squeak.

Steak strips with bubble and squeak

What is bubble and squeak I hear you ask? Bubble and squeak is simply leftover vegetables that have been shallow fried in a little oil until they start to crisp and turn golden brown A traditional dish of British bubble and squeak is simply made by frying up leftover potatoes and cabbage, and it gets its name from the sound of the cabbage squeaking as it fries in the hot oil!

But you don’t just have to use cabbage and potatoes, any leftover cooked vegetables can be used to make a tasty bubble and squeak. For this recipe, I’ve used boiled potatoes, cabbage, leeks, beans and sugar snaps. All you have to do to make it is cut up any larger pieces of leftover vegetables into bite-sized pieces, mix them all together, and shallow fry in hot oil until the edges of the vegetables turn crispy and golden.

How long does it take to make?

There are three components to this dish, and none of them takes very long to make. You can have this entire dish on the table in about three-quarters of an hour.

• Steak strips – these take just 5 minutes to slice into strips and coat in cornflour, and each batch takes only 3 to 4 minutes to fry.
• Marinara sauce – this will take less than 5 minutes to chop the onions, and another half an hour on the stove. (You can fry the steak strips while the sauce is simmering).
• Bubble and squeak – all you have to do here is combine your leftover vegetables and fry them until they are browned (maxium of 10 minutes).

What you will need

**Get the complete list of ingredients and full instructions for making steak strips with marinara sauce on the printable recipe card at the end of this post**

Steak strips

To make these delicious steak strips, all you will need is rump steak which has been cut into strips, and cornflour which has been seasoned with salt.

I like to use rump steak, but any cut of steak that you would normally fry or grill would be suitable. When cutting the steak into strips, make sure that you cut it against (or across) the grain to maximise the tenderness. Steak that is cut along the grain will result in chewy meat.

The cornflour (otherwise known as cornstarch) is used to coat the meat and provide a crispy coating to the fried steak.

You also won’t need any seasoning other than a sprinkling of salt. The marinara sauce provides more than enough flavour in this dish.

Marinara sauce

For the marinara sauce you will need 4 main ingredients:

• Tomato passata – this is sold in cartons or bottles in the UK. Passata is simply whole tomatos that have been processed and then sieved to remove the pips and any bits of skin. The result is a smooth, thick tomato sauce – not to be confused with tomato ketchup.
• Shallots – these have much milder, sweeter taste than normal red, white or yellow onions. If you can’t get shallots, red onion would be the next best option.
• Mixed herbs – sometimes called Italian herbs. This is just a mixture of rosemary,oregano, basil and thyme.
• Garlic – you can use fresh garlic which has been finely minced, or ready crushed garlic from a jar.
• Sugar (not pictured) – I always add a small amount of sugar when I cook with tomatoes as I think the sweetness of the sugar helps bring out the flavour of the tomato.
• Salt – optional – but I like to add a small amount for extra flavour.

Bubble and squeak

No pictures here, because you can use whatever leftover vegetables you happen to have stored in the refrigerator. I like to use boiled baby potatoes, but leftover mashed potatoes would work just as well. I also had a container of buttered cabbage and leeks, which I added, and a few leftover green beans and sugar snap peas.

The beauty of this dish is that you can combine all your leftover vegetables into one dish. Try adding sweet potatoes or butternut squash for a hint of sweetness, or leftover cauliflower. Once it has browned in the pan, cauliflower adds a deliciously nutty taste to the bubble and squeak. Add some peas or corn kernels for pops of green and yellow colour. You could even add leftover garlic mushrooms!.

I think the name ‘bubble and squeak’ adds interest for the kiddies. I struggled to get vegetables into my children when they were younger, but I just had to mention that I was making bubble and squeak, and I was guaranteed empty plates!

As far as quantities go, you will need approximately 1 cup of mixed leftover vegetables per person.

This recipe will serve 4 people – if you are making it for 2, just halve the ingredients.

How to make it

Marinara sauce

This sauce is so good, I should really give it a recipe in its own right!

• Peel and finely chop the shallots, and peel and crush the garlic. You should aim to get the shallots to be about the size of a grain of cooked rice. You can do this in a food processor, or use a sharp knife. If using a food processor, be careful not to over-process.
• Fry the onions and garlic with the herbs, in a little sunflower oil. Use a low heat and let them sweat slowly. Take care not to let them brown – the onions will turn translucent when they are ready.
• Now add the passata, a teaspoon of sugar, and salt to taste. Turn the heat down as low as possible, cover the saucepan with a lid and leave to simmer for about half an hour until the sauce has thickened.

Steak strips

While the sauce is simmering you can turn your attention to the steak.

• Cut the steak into approximately 1cm (just under half an inch) strips.
• Coat the beef strips in cornflour seasoned with a little salt, and fry a few at a time in hot oil until the outside is crispy and golden, and the beef is cooked. This will take about 3 minutes per batch. If you prefer your beef well done you may need to cook it for a minute or two longer. Don’t overcrowd the pan or the temperature will drop and the steak will draw water and boil rather than fry. The oil should be quite hot, and sizzle when you add the meat. Cook in batches.
• Stir the beef strips as you fry them so that they brown all over.
• Transfer to a serving dish and pour over the marinara sauce.

Bubble and squeak

To make the bubble and squeak, heat a splash of oil in a frying pan and tip in the vegetables. Cook over medium to high heat, turning occasionally, until the vegetables start to brown and are completely heated through. This should take about 4 to 5 minutes.

Serve the bubble and squeak alongside the steak strips.

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Other easy beef supper recipes

You may also like to try some of these easy supper recipes made with beef:

• Macaroni and cheese lasagne
• Meatball stuffed jumbo pasta shells
• Quick and easy beef Trinchado
• Cheesy garlic bread pasta bake
• Homemade hamburger helper

The recipe

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