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The Steakhouse 50 · make it at home

Bistecca alla fiorentina

45 minutes, plus 2 hours to come to temperature · Serves 4

Florence's T-bone, as Sostanza and Buca Lapi serve it: three fingers thick, room temperature before it touches the fire, grilled hard over embers on both sides and stood on its bone, served very rare with olive oil, salt, pepper and lemon on the side.

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The real one

You need

• 1 T-bone (or porterhouse) steak, 2 1/2 to 3 inches (6 to 7 cm) thick, about 3 lb (1.4 kg), Chianina if you can find it
• Coarse sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Your best Tuscan extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 lemon, cut in wedges
• Optional: a sprig of rosemary
• For the side: 1 lb (450 g) cannellini beans, cooked (or two 15 oz cans, drained), warmed with olive oil, a crushed garlic clove and sage

How to make it

1. Take the steak out of the fridge 2 hours ahead: bistecca goes on the fire at room temperature, or the center stays cold.
2. Build a hot hardwood-charcoal fire and spread the coals evenly. Set the grill 4 inches above them. It should be hot enough that you can hold your hand there for only 2 to 3 seconds.
3. Grill the steak, unseasoned, 5 to 7 minutes without moving it, until it lifts easily and is well browned. Turn it once (never with a fork) and grill 5 to 7 minutes more.
4. Stand the steak upright on its T-bone, right on the grill, for 5 to 8 minutes. This is the Florentine step: the bone conducts heat to the center without overcooking the outside. The center should read 115 to 120°F (46 to 49°C).
5. Move it to a board, salt it generously with coarse salt and grind over pepper only now. Rest 5 minutes.
6. Cut the strip and the fillet off the bone and slice each across the grain about 3/4 inch thick. Lay them back around the bone.
7. Drizzle with your best olive oil at the table and pass lemon wedges. Serve with the warm white beans in oil and sage.

Tips

• A Florentine bistecca is ordered by weight and never cooked past rare; the thickness is the point.
• Rosemary is a newer habit: brush it with a rosemary sprig dipped in oil if you like.

Chef Amazing's own home version, in our words; not any restaurant's recipe.