Typically, when we plan to just hang in on Saturday night, I think of good food and great wine. It's the one night of the week that Dave and I don't mind taking a few hours to cook, as long as we have no plans. This past Saturday, we decided some steak and pasta sounded good; we were expecting some snow and thought this would be warm and comforting. Fortunately, the Creamy Steak Gorgonzola Pasta we whipped up didn't take hours, and it was tasty.
This dish starts with a great cut of steak. We are partial to tenderloin, and the first few times I cut one into pieces, I sort of stopped breathing for a bit. There just seems to be something wrong with cutting up a perfectly good steak - but trust me, it's still very tasty and only adds to the dish's flavor. You will not be sorry in the end. I used about a pound and a quarter in this recipe because I was feeding three of us and planning on keeping a few small plates for leftover lunches.
Once cut up, the steak can be seasoned with salt and pepper or any other seasoning you prefer. We are partial to Montreal seasoning, so that's what we went with here. You can do this right before you prep the rest of the meal or do it ahead and let it rest in the fridge for a few hours. We let it sit and also added a little marinade to the beef, but that's up to you.
Next I got everything measured out and ready to roll - mise en place, remember? If I have not extolled the virtues of prepping already - let me do it here. This is so critical to not only flawless cooking - but a flawless cooking experience. Your failure to plan when cooking is a plan to fail - so take the couple extra minutes to do it. (Oh, and the extra dishes it creates pales in comparison to the advantages it gives you in the mastering of the recipe!)
When everything is measured and ready -it's time for pasta! The steak and cream sauce go together so quickly, you'll want to start with the pasta and get it done. In addition, you'll want to combine everything at the end and freshly prepared hot pasta is going to blend so much better than lukewarm sticky pasta - so get on it first. Cooking it al dente is fine.
I chose a penne for this recipe but you could argue that another style may be just as good or even better. I opted for a bronze cut; they're said to hold sauces well. I'm not going to testify under oath to that, but the two options were available to me and I decided it would harm nothing if I went bronze cut and it failed to live up to its promises.
The next steps are to give your steak pieces a quick sear - this involves a good sized heavy duty pan, some oil and some decent medium high heat. Some oils hold up to heat better; they're said to have a higher "smoke point." Those oils include grapeseed, canola and vegetable oil. You'll want to avoid olive oil. I know it's the princess of most recipes, but it'll also burn really fast and it is not the workhorse oil you need here. A quick couple minutes while moving the steak pieces should get the doneness you need on your beef. We like our meat warm pink, and it will continue to cook a bit off the heat, so pay attention as you work through cooking the meat so you don't overdo it.
Remove the meat into a small bowl (you'll want to catch any drippings), set your pan back on the stove over medium heat and then add butter, onion and garlic. We happened to have smoked and roasted a few garlic bulbs earlier in the day so we used the mash from that, but I think fresh minced garlic would have given a bolder taste in this dish and would have countered the strong flavor of the Gorgonzola better too.
Once the onion and garlic soften, add the flour to make a nice roux (which will thicken your cream.) Cook until flour is blended in, about a minute, and then slowly add your half and half or cream. Continue whisking until the mixture thickens, about 10 minutes or so. Remove the pan from heat and add in your cheeses. It should come together pretty fast.
Now that's all that is left to do is put your steak - with its drippings - and cooked pasta into the sauce and mix well. Serve with more Parmesan cheese and garlic bread - if desired. If you are looking to bulk this up at all, try a handful of baby spinach in the onion and garlic step - it wilts pretty fast and will give the final dish some great color. You could probably add artichoke hearts, too, or roasted red peppers, as the Gorgonzola would compliment those as well.
This dish cooks pretty quickly and you won't do a whole lot of standing around and waiting. It can be thrown together for a quick weeknight meal or served to dinner guests with its simple elegance. If you decide to try Creamy Steak Gorgonzola Pasta - please come back and leave a comment. I'd love to know how you made out. Enjoy!
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