Old Man Winter GO AWAY!

It's Monday, March 30 and it is snowing outside. WTF! This winter doesn't seem like it will ever end. If old man winter were an actual person I'd be lining up to kick him in the jewels right about now! I have seriously had it with the damp and cold and gray. With the cold sucky weather hanging around, I decided to make a big pot of sauce to ward off the cold. Because I was feeling particularly creative and wanting beef, I decided to use some if it to make a very non-traditional version of steak pizzaola. I had some lovely strip steaks that were on the thin side which would work perfectly since I was pan frying them. A travesty, I know, but it's too damn cold out to grill....well for me anyway. They'd be cold by the time you bought them inside. First,I got my cast iron skillet smoking hot with a little oil. I seasoned the steaks with salt and pepper and seared them on both sides and then put them aside. I turned the heat down and added sliced onions, red bell pepper and sliced garlic to the pan and sauteed them all until nice and soft. Then I deglazed the pan with some white wine and let that all simmer down. After a couple minutes I added a cup or two of the home made marinara and stirred it all to combine. Then I returned the steaks to the pan to let them finish cooking through and bring everything up to temperature. Boom. Done. Easy as pie. I served the steaks over a bed of mashed cauliflower and then spooned the vegetable and tomato mixture over it. Finally I topped it with some thin slices of fresh mozzarella and dinner was served. You could certainly hit the cheese with the broiler to brown it up but we were hungry and the cheese was melted enough by the heat of the food beneath it. Hubs really enjoyed this meal as it was filling but not heavy. It this weather continues I am sure we will be eating it a few more times before it gets too hot to make pots of sauce.