Steakhouse Pasta

I love The Pioneer Woman.  Not only does she manage to be witty, warm and genuine, but her food is nearly always flawlessly wonderful.  It looks good, it tastes good, most of it is stuff I have or can easily find, and she provides great step-by-step instructions.  I'm fairly certain that her blog post on "How to Cook a Steak" is at least 50% of the reason why I am married today.  So when I stumbled upon her "Steakhouse Pizza" post the other day, I pined for it.  I am talking serious pining.  Steak AND Pizza?  How could it get any better?!  Drooling may also have been involved. Drooling… Pining.  Same thing.

After fantasizing about the steakhouse pizza nearly all day yesterday, I decided to pick up the necessary ingredients after work.  And then on the train ride home, I remembered that our oven had gone out the night before.  Crap on a stick!  

So instead of Steakhouse Pizza, we had Steakhouse Pasta.  It was still quite tasty and a great substitute for when you don't have an oven, and your grill is far too tiny for cooking a pizza. Stupid tiny grill!  Anyway… Thanks, PW, for some amazing inspiration.

Steakhouse Pasta

For the steak and onions:

• 1 flank or skirt steak
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoon butter
• 1 small yellow onion, sliced into thin strips
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1/2 tablespoon red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar

For the sauce:

• 1 jar Spaghetti sauce – I used Trader Joe's Roasted Garlic Marinara, but when I have more time, I usually make my own
• 2-3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

For the pasta:

• 1/2 pound linguine
• 1-2 teaspoons salt

Toppings:

• Steak sauce
• Freshly grated or shaved parmesan - or whatever cheese you prefer as a topping.  I used a three-cheese blend of asiago, fontina, and parmesan.
• 1 tomato sliced thinly (optional)
• Basil leaves (optional)

Begin by caramelizing the onions.  To do this properly it takes about 35-45 minutes.  I use a recipe from Ina Garten for this… It's full proof and the flavor is amazing.  Every time.  

In a large saute pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the butter and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil together until the better is melted.  

Add the onions and thyme, tossing to coat with the butter and oil.  Cover the pan with a lid and cook over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, sweating the onions.  

In the meantime, season the steak with salt and pepper and set aside.

Remove the lid and continue to cook for another 25-30 minutes, until the onions are caramelized and golden brown.  Stir occassionally and make sure the onions aren't sticking.  Also, if the onions are browing too quickly, reduce the heat.  You definitely want to cook low and slow and avoid burning the onions. 

In the last two minutes, add the red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar, scraping any bits from the pan, and season with salt and pepper.  

While the onions are cooking, start boiling the water for the pasta, adding a teaspoon or two of salt for seasoning.

In a large sauce pan, over medium-low heat, combine the marinara sauce, balsamic vinegar and Worcestershire sauce.  Cover.  Stir occassionally.  Reduce heat if necessary.

You can cook the steak in the same pan you used for the onions (setting the onions aside), or use a grill, or a grill pan and cook while the onions are starting to slow cook.  

Add another tablespoon each of butter and olive oil to the pan, melting together, and cook the flank steak over medium-high heat for about 6 minutes (for medium rare), flipping half-way through.  Set aside and let rest for ten minutes.

When the water is boiling, add the linguine and cook for about 7 minutes.  Add a cup of cold water to stop the cooking process.  Drain when ready to serve.

Slice the steak thinly, and if desired toss it back in the pan for another minute with the caramelized onions. 

 

To serve, top the linguine with pasta sauce, steak, caramelized onions, a little bit of steak sauce, the cheese, and maybe some fresh basil.  I also added some fresh tomatoes on the side, which was tasty.

Enjoy!  Even if it's not pizza… 

Smoked Andouille, Summer Vegetables, Linguine and Cream Sauce

I'm really not sure what to call this dish, since it was essentially another edition of "make shit up for dinner" night.  But it must have been good because the husband ordained me "the sorceress of yummy yummies."  

On to the tasty parts… 

Smoked Andouille, Summer Vegetables, Linguine and Cream Sauce

• About 1 lb smoked andouille sausage, casings removed
• 1 medium zucchini, diced
• 1 medium carrot, chopped into small sticks
• 4-5  red, yellow and orange baby bell peppers, chopped
• 1 yellow tomato, diced
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup half-and-half (see, I'm trying not to kill you!)
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/4 cup blend of fontina, asiago, and parmesan cheeses (plus more for topping, optionally)
• 1 lb fresh linguine

Crumble the andouille and cook thoroughly in a deep sauce pan over medium-high heat.

Drain excess fat from the sausage.

Reduce heat to medium.  Add the zucchini, carrots and peppers and cook for 4-5 minutes.    

Meanwhile, bring water for the pasta to boil.

Add the tomato, heavy cream, half-and-half and white wine to the sausage and veggie mixture. Bring to a slow boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer until sauce begins to thicken slightly.

Note: Don't cook the hell out of this… The veggies should still be a bit crisp when everything is served.

When the water begins to boil, add the fresh linguine.  Cook for about 2 and a half to 3 minutes.  If using dried pasta, cook according to package directions.

Stir in 1/4 cup of the three cheese blend and allow to melt into the sauce.

Drain the pasta.  

Dish into bowls and top with sausage, veggies and sauce mixture, and optionally more cheese.  

Enjoy!  If you think your thighs are man enough to handle it! :)