Scale
Ingredients
For the red wine-marinated flank steak
- 1 pound flank steak
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/3 cup Merlot or other red wine
- 1/4 cup A1 steak sauce (or any other steak sauce you like)
For the pancetta-wrapped asparagus
- 8 spears asparagus
- 4 slices pancetta, thinly cut
For the spinach and goat cheese pasta
- 1 pound pasta (I’ve only used penne or fusilli, but any short pasta will do)
- 10-ounce package of frozen spinach
- 6 ounces goat cheese or cream cheese, softened
Instructions
For the steak
- Put the olive oil, Merlot and steak sauce in a large Ziploc bag and mix well. Place the steak in the bag, making sure that the marinade covers it completely. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- Heat up a grill until it’s screaming hot (as Rachael Ray would say). Remove the steak from the marinade and salt and pepper one side. Place that side on the hot grill and salt and pepper the side facing up. After 4-5 minutes, flip. It should take another 4 minutes on that side for a medium-rare steak.
- Take the steak off the grill and let it rest under an tin foil tent for at least 10 minutes before cutting.
For the asparagus
- Cut the stems off the asparagus. Toss the stalks with salt and pepper before wrapping one slice of pancetta around two stalks. Repeat for the rest of the asparagus.
- Spread the spears out on a lined baking sheet and roast for 2o minutes at 375F.
For the pasta
- Thaw the spinach and squeeze out all of the excess liquid (Put the spinach in a dishcloth or cheesecloth and wring as though your life depended on it). Mix in the softened cheese.
- Prepare the pasta, per the usual instructions. When draining the pasta, reserve some of the cooking water.
- Toss the pasta with the spinach and cheese sauce. Add pasta water to thin the sauce if necessary.
Notes
- Keith made this pasta (along with his famous garlic bread and PB&J ice cream sandwiches, yum) the first time he ever cooked for me. Needless to say, it really does work wonders!