Steak Modiga is ubiquitous in "St. Louis Italian" restaurants and I've never seen it anywhere else. Google it, and the only references you'll find are from the St. Louis area. This is the dish that finally cemented the peace between me and Provel cheese. Up until I met Steak Modiga, I just could not wrap my brain (or mouth) around the weirdly goopy St. Louis cheese... the cheese that makes St. Louis-style pizza what it is (that and the cracker-thin crust, cut into squares). If you live outside the St. Louis area, you probably won't even be able to find Provel. Use provolone in that case. This recipe makes a LOT of sauce. Serve the extra over pasta, or freeze it; it freezes beautifully.
Serve this same sauce over boneless, skinless chicken breasts and you've got Chicken Modiga.
4 medium-size filet mignons
Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
Extra virgin olive oil
4 thin slices provel
For the Sauce:
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup dry white wine (pinot grigio is good) + some for deglazing mushrooms
2 - 3 T fresh lemon juice
salt & pepper to taste
1 T fresh chopped garlic
1 cup thinly sliced mushrooms
2 oz heavy cream
3 oz. thinly sliced Prosciutto, chopped
3 oz. shredded Provel Cheese
4 T butter, room temp
4 T flour
Season steaks with salt and pepper. set aside.
Pre-heat oven to 250 F.
To make the sauce:
Mix the flour & butter together to form a paste (beurre manie). Set aside.
Saute proscuitto in olive oil in a non-stick skillet until crisp. Set aside. In the same pan, saute mushrooms in butter with some salt until browned. Add garlic and cook for one minute. Deglaze with a small amount of white wine. Cook until dry. Remove and set aside.
Combine chicken broth, wine, 2 T of the lemon juice, mushrooms, cream, and prosciutto in a sauce pan.
With the sauce at a boil, thicken by stirring and adding blobs of the beurre manie a little at a time until you've used it all up. Add cheese. Stir until smooth. Add salt & pepper to taste. If it doesn't seem lemony enough, add the extra tablespoon of lemon juice. Keep warm. Note: a thermos works wonders.
Dredge the steaks in Italian seasoned breadcrumbs.
Pour about 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a skillet large enough for all 4 steaks.
Heat to medium/medium-high and brown the steaks well on both sides.
Slide steaks into the oven and cook until they register 128 on an instant-read thermometer.
Place the steaks on a plate and let rest for 5 minutes.
Cover with the warm sauce and serve.
Be sure to have plenty of bread to mop up the sauce.
to Sous Vide:
Skip the bread crumbs. Cook steaks Sous Vide at 130 for 2.5 hours, blot dry, sear in cast iron pan, plate, and pour on the sauce.
The Johnson Family Cookbook