Pasta in paprika and cream cheese sauce with steak strips and pesto

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 500g spaghetti
• 4 entrecôte(s), approx. 150 – 200 g each
• 200 g cream cheese with spicy herbs and paprika
• 1 m.-sized onion(s)
• 250 g cocktail tomatoes
• 50 ml milk, approx.
• 1 pot of basil, a large pot! or 2 bunch
• 50 g pine nuts
• 250 g crème fraîche
• 50 g Parmesan, grated
• 1 garlic clove(s)
• Vegetable oil, e.g. rapeseed oil
• salt and pepper
• chili flakes
• e.g. Parmesan

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 20 minutes; Total time approx. 50 minutes

Using a hand blender, blend basil, pine nuts, garlic clove, Parmesan, and crème fraîche into a creamy pesto. Season to taste (not too hot) with salt and pepper, and ground chili flakes if desired. Transfer to a bowl. Preheat the oven to 120 degrees Celsius (250 degrees Fahrenheit). Sear the meat in a pan with oil on both sides (approx. 1-2 minutes per side, depending on your taste). Then place it either in an ovenproof dish or directly on the oven rack and continue cooking for the remainder of the cooking time (approx. 20 minutes; if you prefer the meat well done, increase the time accordingly). With 1 minute of searing on each side and approx. 20 minutes in the oven, the steaks are medium-rare to medium, depending on their thickness. Do not discard the cooking fat. Boil the pasta water and cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Halve the cherry tomatoes. Dice the onion. Sauté in the cooking fat from the steaks until translucent. Add the paprika cream cheese. Gradually add the milk until a creamy sauce forms. Set aside on a very low heat. Shortly before the pasta is finished cooking, add the halved cocktail tomatoes to the sauce. Drain the pasta and mix in the paprika sauce. Serve on plates. Remove the steaks from the oven, season with salt and pepper, cut into strips (or serve whole), and place them on the pasta. Drizzle with a little pesto and serve the rest of the pesto at the table. If you like, you can also serve grated Parmesan cheese on the side. If you have vegetarians in the house, simply leave out the steak for that person and prepare the sauce for everyone separately in another pan without using the cooking fat.