I don’t know about you guys but a lot of times I like to look at the weekly circulars from my local grocery store and see what’s on sale to help figure out my menu for the week. Lord knows when I ask my family what they want, I get the infamous “it doesn’t matter” or even better “it’s up to you”. One of these days I’m going to figure out a meal and call it that just to get a meal choice out of them!! So until then, the circulars are my motivation!
Thankfully one of our local stores generally puts their steaks on sale at least once a month. While I love a good steak on the grill with an amazing side of Twice Baked Potato Bake, I also like to change it up a little. Why the heck not cook up a perfectly medium rare ribeye, cut it into tender slices, and toss it with some yummy creamy pasta!!
Jump to RecipeFor the most part, southern comfort food (for me) means a meal that puts a smile on your heart! Now, if creamy pasta doesn’t do that, I don’t know what would – SERIOUSLY!!
So we’re going to start out with a really well marbled ribeye or top sirloin steak. When I grill a steak I like to use the Whiskey Steak dry seasoning from Cabela’s but for this, we’re going CAJUN! I found this great cajun seasoning called Buddy’s Cajun Spice and love it. I’m not big into a seasoning blend that is heavy in salt or too spicy. This one has a perfect balance of seasoning, salt and heat.
I always season both sides of the steak and then drizzle them with some worcestershire sauce and allow them to come to room temperature. You don’t want to place an ice cold piece of meat on the skillet. By allowing it to sit out (covered!) it allows the meat to cook more evenly.
In a screaming hot cast iron skillet, add olive oil and butter, carefully lay the steaks away from you and don’t touch them! For a steak that’s about 1″, cook the first side for 4 minutes then flip and cook an additional 4 minutes. Remove them from the skillet, transfer to another dish and place in the oven. Keep in mind that they will continue to cook so if your steaks are thinner, adjust the time cooking on the stove. Having the steaks this way is no different from serving them grilled, they still need to rest before cutting.
In the same cast iron skillet, add your onions and mushrooms. You want to cook them for just a few minutes until they start to get tender. If the onions don’t give off enough liquid to get the goodies loose from the pan, you can add a little beef broth or red wine. I don’t add the bell pepper at this point just because I personally slice them very thin which allows them to cook so quickly that I don’t want them to dissolve. If you like them thicker, add them now so they have enough time to get tender.
This step usually takes about 5-7 minutes.
NOTE: Don’t forget to check the steaks during all of these steps. You do not want to overcook them!!
At this point you want to add the broth, cream, worcestershire sauce, and seasonings. Cook this down for about 5 minutes, then add bell pepper, parsley, and parmesan cheese. After the cheese has melted, taste for the need of salt and/or pepper.
By this point, your steaks should be done. You’ll want to remove them from the oven and transfer to a cutting board. I’m not a fan of throwing away flavor so of course, throw the juice from the pan to your cream sauce!
That’s a lot of flavor, make sure to add to your cream sauce! 
Opps, I forgot to take a picture after adding the red bell peppers.
After the sauce has cooked for another 5-10 minutes add the pasta and asparagus (see tip below). Toss in the cream and cook for a few minutes to incorporate the sauce to the pasta.
Now that the steak has rested, it’s time to cut them in thin slices, add them to the sauce and serve.
Perfectly cooked medium rare! 
*TIP: When the pasta is 3 minutes from being cooked, add cut up asparagus. This allows the asparagus to begin cooking but just long enough to begin getting tender.
Cajun Steak and Mushroom Pasta
Ingredients
- 12 oz Bowtie pasta cooked according to notes*
- 2 Ribeye steaks or Top Sirloin
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 4-6 Medium mushrooms sliced
- 1 Medium onion sliced
- 1 Medium red bell pepper sliced
- 1 bunch asparagus 1" pieces
- ½ tsp cajun seasoning
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 2 tsp garlic minced
- 1 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp cajun seasoning
- ½ tsp basil dried
- ½ tsp oregano dried
- ½ Tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 Tbsp parsley fresh or dried
- 1/2 cup freshly grated paremsan cheese
- Beef stock as needed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250°
- Cook pasta in well salted water according to directions. *SEE NOTE
- Season steaks with 1-2 tsp cajun seasoning and a few dashes of worcestershire sauce
- In a very hot cast iron skillet, add olive oil and butter then brown one side of steaks for 4 minutes.
- Flip steaks and cook an additional 4 minutes.
- Remove steaks from heat, move to another dish and place in heated oven.
- Using the same skillet as the steaks were browned in, add onions and saute until they start to turn clear.
- Add sliced mushrooms and cook until the start to turn tender.
- To the onions and mushrooms, add garlic and cook until fragrant (about 2 minutes).
- Add all remaining ingredients except parmesan cheese. Bring to simmer for 5 minutes.
- Remove steaks from oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes. (Add drippings from steaks to the cream sauce)
- Add cooked noodles, asparagus, and parmesan cheese to cream sauce. Simmer till thickened.
- Cut steak in thin slices and toss when ready to serve.
- *NOTE: When cooking pasta, add asparagus to pasta water 2 minutes before pasta is done.