Bistecca alla Panzanese

Bistecca alla panzanese. Gail / flickr / 2009 / CC BY 2.0

Bistecca alla panzanese is an Italian cut of beef.

Italians describe it as a steak cut from the heart of the thigh of a cow. In English, we’d describe this area of the cow as being the beef round.

It’s not exactly like a round steak, however, because it’s a boneless cut.

It can be cut from any breed of cattle.

A Tuscan butcher who sells this cut, Dario Cecchini (as of 2007), says that this is a medieval cut that he revived.

Cooking Tips

Take out of fridge in advance of cooking so that the meat has returned to room temperature.

Dario Cecchini gives these cooking directions:

“Grill it once it has come back to room temp, not straight from the fridge, over red hot coals, on a low grill.  Cook 5 to 8 minutes per side, plus 15 minutes upright on the grill. No salt beforehand, but at the table sprinkle with Essence of Chianti and some good extra-virgin olive oil. Weight: between 1 and 3 kg. each.” ^[1]Accessed July 2020 at https://www.dariocecchini.com/en/portfolio_page/bistecca-panzanese/

Any leftover can be served as a carpaccio.