Steak Alfredo Bleu

1.Prepare your pasta water by bringing it to a boil and salting and olive oil-ing it (if you so choose – I think it helps). Toss the pasta in.

2. Pour your two cups of cream out and set aside outside of the fridge to allow it to get to room temperature.

3. In a large skillet/saucepan, melt the stick of butter. When all butter is melted, add shallots and garlic and allow it to steep a little.

4. Next, whisk in your room temperature cream, making sure to stir continuously.

5. Add in 1/2 of your mozzarella/parm mixture and your bleu cheese, as well as the white pepper. (Be careful with the white pepper, it gets pretty zingy pretty fast.) Add more if you like, but make sure to taste. I’ve ruined it here before. :P)

6. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Add about 1/4 cup of the sliced grape tomatoes. Use your judgment. They shouldn’t be the focus, just little surprises along the way. Let it remain at a simmer for about 8 to 10 minutes.

7. Season your steak. My can’t-miss seasonings, which I use very sparingly in this recipe, are Montreal Steak, a touch of white pepper, and some seasoned salt. Be very sparing, you don’t want to overpower anything else.

8. Lightly (very lightly) oil a skillet and heat it up on high heat. When the skillet is nice and hot, sear your flank steak on either side and then allow to fully cook.

(You can do this in pieces, but I prefer to do it whole and slice later, even though it takes longer. Alternatively, use thinner strips of steak. I have used thin sliced top round before, it was still delicious.)

Cook to desired doneness. At the restaurant and in my home, I like it fairly rare.

9. Cut the steak into delicate, presentable strips (I like to go diagonal, it lays across the pasta dish on the top and I think it looks nice).

10. At this point, or at least near this point, we hope your pasta is done al dente and can be drained. Your sauce will be nice and warm and can be garnished with some flat leaf parsley.

I serve it like this to add some, I dunno, wow factor: I put about 6 to 8 halves of grape tomatoes in a nice pattern on the rim of the plates, garnish between them with flat leaf parsley, and put the pasta right in the center of the dish.

Drizzle the sauce on top, lay the nicely done steak strips right on top of the dish. You don’t need to overkill it with steak. It’s pretty rich and decadent, and to be honest, just a touch of meat is nice. I’d say I use about 8 nice 1 inch pieces of steak per dish.

You’ll find the grape tomatoes stewed nicely in the sauce here and there, the blue cheese marries with the Alfredo and the steak perfectly and it’s really creamy. I serve it with some french bread. Sometimes, if I feel saucy, I make some bruschetta and some slightly garlic-roasted broccoli. Go nuts.