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4 sirloin steaks or equivalent boneless cut, ¾ inch thick, brought to room temperature before cooking

Salt

Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill

½ cup dry Marsala wine

½ cup dry red wine

1½ teaspoons garlic chopped fine

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1 tablespoon tomato paste, diluted with 2 tablespoons water

Chopped hot red chili pepper, to taste

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1. Choose a skillet that can subsequently accommodate all the steaks in a single layer. Put in just enough olive oil, tilting the pan in several directions, to coat the bottom well. Turn the heat on to high and when the oil is hot enough that a slight haze forms over it, slip in the steaks. Cook them to taste, preferably rare, approximately 3 minutes on one side and 2 on the other. When done, turn off the heat, transfer the steaks to a warm platter, and sprinkle with salt and a few grindings of pepper.

2. Turn the heat on to medium high under the skillet, and put in the Marsala and the red wine. Let the wines bubble for about half a minute, while scraping the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen any cooking residues stuck to the bottom and sides.

3. Add the garlic, cook just long enough to stir 2 or 3 times, add the fennel seeds, stir for a few seconds, then add the diluted tomato paste and chopped chili pepper to taste. Turn the heat down to medium and cook, stirring frequently, for a minute or so, until a dense, syrupy sauce is formed.

4. Return the steaks to the pan for no longer than it takes to turn them 2 or 3 times in the sauce. Transfer the steaks and their sauce to a warm serving platter, top with the chopped parsley, and serve at once.

Pan-Broiled Thin Beef Steaks with Tomatoes and Olives

THE STEAKS for this dish are very thin slices of beef that are made even thinner by pounding to bring cooking time down to a minimum. Most butchers will pound them for you, but if you must flatten them yourself, follow the method described in the section on veal scaloppine. Notch the edges of the slices, after pounding, to keep them from curling in the pan.

For 4 servings

½ medium onion sliced very thin

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 medium garlic cloves, peeled and sliced very thin

⅔ cup fresh, ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped, OR canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped, with their juice

Oregano, ½ teaspoon if fresh, ¼ teaspoon if dried

Salt

Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill

1 dozen black, round Greek olives, pitted and quartered

Vegetable oil

1 pound boneless beef steaks, preferably chuck, sliced less than ½ inch thick, flattened as described above, and brought to room temperature before cooking

1. Put the sliced onion and the olive oil in a saute pan, turn on the heat to medium low, and cook the onion, letting it gradually wilt. When it becomes colored a pale gold, add the garlic. Cook the garlic until it becomes very lightly colored, then add the tomatoes with their juice and the oregano. Stir thoroughly to coat well, adjust heat so that the tomatoes cook at a steady simmer, and cook for about 15 minutes, until the oil floats free of the tomatoes. Add salt, a few grindings of pepper, and the olives, stir thoroughly, and cook for 1 more minute. Turn the heat down to minimum.

2. Heat a heavy skillet, preferably cast iron, until it is hot, then quickly grease the bottom with a cloth towel soaked in vegetable oil. Put in the beef slices, cooking both sides just the few seconds necessary to brown them. Sprinkle with salt and pepper as you turn them.

3. Transfer the meat to the pan with the tomato sauce, and turn it 2 or 3 times. Put the steaks on a warm serving platter, turning out the sauce over them, and serve at once.

Ahead-of-time note The recipe can be completed up to this point several hours or even a day in advance. Stop short of putting in the olives, adding them only after reheating the sauce, before it is combined with the steaks.

Pan-Fried Thin Beef Steaks, Cacciatora Style

For 4 servings

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

½ cup onion sliced very thin

4 pan-frying beef steaks, cut less than