Name: Bistecca Fiorentina
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 1.2 kg T-bone steak, at least 4 cm thick; 2 tsp coarse sea salt; ½ tsp ground black pepper; 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil; 2 sprigs fresh rosemary; 1 lemon, cut into wedges

Bistecca Fiorentina

A thick T-bone steak of Chianina-style beef cooked quickly over the hottest heat, rare in the middle and charred outside, seasoned only with salt and olive oil.

25 min total Serves 4 servings Medium

Why This Bistecca Fiorentina Recipe Works

Short-sharp: salt, heat, beef. A true Florentine steak is 5 cm thick, serves three or four people, and is cooked for about 5 minutes on each side over wood coals. Nothing else goes near it before the plate, because everything else would be a distraction. At home, the same steak is cooked in a smoking-hot cast iron pan or on a grill.

Buy the right cut: a T-bone or porterhouse at least 4 cm thick, about 1.2 kg. A thin steak overcooks before it chars. Take it out of the fridge an hour before cooking so the middle is not cold. Dry the surface completely and salt it only just before it goes on the heat.

Sear for 4 minutes on each side, then stand the steak on its bone for 3 minutes so the meat next to the bone cooks. The inside should be deep red and warm, 50°C / 120°F on a thermometer, and the outside nearly black in places.

Rest it on a board for 10 minutes, tented loosely. Slice the meat off the bone in thick pieces, drizzle with the best olive oil, and add coarse sea salt and black pepper. The Tuscan way is to serve it with white beans and a rocket salad.

Bistecca Fiorentina, Step by Step

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Take the steak out of the fridge 1 hour before cooking. Pat dry.
Heat a large cast iron pan or grill until smoking hot. Season the steak with half the salt and cook for 4 minutes on each side without moving.
Stand the steak on its bone side and cook for 3 minutes.
Rest on a board under foil for 10 minutes. Slice the meat from the bone and cut into thick slices.
Season with the remaining salt and pepper, drizzle with the olive oil, and serve with the rosemary and lemon.

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Notes for Getting It Right

Use a meat thermometer: 50°C / 122°F for rare.
Do not press the steak while it cooks.
Rest the meat for the full 10 minutes.

Serving Suggestions

Cannellini beans
Rocket salad
Roast potatoes
Chianti

Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Rosemary Focaccia, Tuscan Panzanella, Creamy Parmesan Polenta.

Keeping and Reheating

Best eaten straight away. Leftover slices keep in the fridge for 2 days and are good cold.

Nutrition per Serving

Per serving, an approximate calculation from the ingredient list. Treat it as a rough guide: weights that include bone are counted as if all of it were eaten, so the figures run high. How the figures are worked out.

525Calories

64gProtein

2gCarbs

29gFat

0gFibre

0gSugar

1330mgSodium

Dairy-Free Gluten-Free No Added Sugar

Bistecca Fiorentina

Bistecca Fiorentina, Step by Step

Notes for Getting It Right

Serving Suggestions

Keeping and Reheating

Nutrition per Serving

Your notes on this recipe

Cooked this? Keep a note for next time

Bistecca Fiorentina, Step by Step

Notes for Getting It Right

Serving Suggestions

Keeping and Reheating

Nutrition per Serving

Your notes on this recipe

Cooked this? Keep a note for next time

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