Steak Milanese with Garlic Linguine

One of my favorite cooking magazines is Cuisine at Home. Most of their recipes are always great and very inventive, but once in a while they have old time favorites like this steak milanese. This is a great recipe for you penny-pinching chefs because you can use inexpensive cuts of beef. Oh, my camera ran out of batteries when I made this and so I had to take pictures with my mobile phone.

INGREDIENTS (Serves 4)

• 8 beef cube steaks, about 4 ounces each, OR 1 lb. top loin steak, trimmed and pounded to 8 1/4" thick steaks
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups breadcrumbs (I used panko)
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes
• 1/4 cup red onion, diced
• 3 Tablespoons kalamata or black olives, halved
• 1 Tablespoon fresh basil, chiffonade
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil

GARLIC LINGUINE

• 1/2 lb. dry linguine
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 3 Tablespoons Parmesan, shredded
• Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

Drizzle a little bit of olive oil on steaks and season both sides of the cutlets with salt and pepper.

Place the flour, eggs, and breadcrumbs into three separate shallow dishes. Dredge the cutlets in flour, followed by the eggs, then the crumbs. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet; chill for 30 minutes.

Next combine the halved cherry tomatoes, red onion, olives, basil, 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside to the relish to marinate for at least 15 minutes.

In a large saute pan heat 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Fry the cutlets in batches until golden, about 2 minutes per side. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Loosely cover the cutlets with foil and place them in the oven while you make the linguine.

To make the garlic linguine: cook the linguine according to package directions in a large pot of boiling salted water. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil, garlic, and pepper flakes in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook until garlic begins to sizzle, about 1 minute, then toss linguine with the garlic oil, Parmesan and salt and pepper to taste.

To serve: place two cutlets per plate and top with the tomato relish. Serve with garlic linguine on the side.