*Splurge & Indulge: Steak & Tortellini in Creamy Mushroom Sauce

To know me is to love me? Below are the 3 levels:
1. Those who doesn't know me think I am cheerful, friendly and funny
2. Those who know me well can't stand me
3. Those who know me best can't live without me
LOL

My point is, people from level 2 and 3 know how thrifty (correction: stingy?) I am, and many associate this to my Chinese-Javanese origin. I was called Japit (Jawa sipit or Jawa pelit) = Small-eyed Javanese or Stingy Javanese.

How thrifty? How stingy? Get ready for some hard core mathematical experience (here's a link to google currency converter):

- When I was studying in Australia, I bought AUD40 SECOND HAND MATTRESS (how could I???!!! many people are still condemning my stupid decision hehe, but hey! Lucky I didn't get anything off that mattress eh?)
- When I first moved to Hong Kong, my daily lunch was 2 slices of bread, each slice folded to form a sandwich with either strawberry jam/nutella filling or tuna which costs about HKD2 per lunch. Buying a HKD9.90 rice box was considered a major splurge back then
- Nowadays, my dinner & lunch budget is a total of HKD40 (2 meals for 2 people = HKD10 per meal per person)

Despite my Scrooge-yness (yep that is not even a word), I am willing to splurge from time to time on good stuff. This time, I've decided to splurge on a meal for a special occasion ^_*

I've been longing for a decent steak for a while...and as much as I love Hong Kong's version of steak (meat-tenderiser-MSG-laden-less-than-1-cm -thick slab of meat) served at most local coffee shops, I miss a thick steak, tender and juicy inside, crusty and almost crispy outside. Normally I pair steak with fries, roasted or mashed potatoes, but this time I want some pasta with creamy mushroom sauce, plus a serving of broccoli with roasted tomatoes. YUM.

A meal for a special occasion or what? Hehehehe
*Guess the special occasion*

The Splurge
The plump button mushrooms for my creamy mushroom sauce :) (HK$23 per pack)

The ricotta and parmigiano reggiano tortellini (HK$41 per pack) wayyyy over my normal HK$6.90 per pack pasta budget hehe, I'd better not screw this up

But look at these...how could I resist?...

The Australian Angus Rib-Eye Steak (HK$59 per 100 gr = HK$312 for 2!!!!!!)

Additional Ingredients
- Cherry tomatoes (HK$6 for half pound)
- 2 Broccoli (HK$7.90 for two)
- 4 cloves of garlic and 2 cloves of shallot, finely chopped
- Olive oil, butter
- Sea salt, white pepper, black pepper, sugar, chicken stock cube/powder

The Steak
Season steak with salt and black pepper, then pan fry in very hot oil with a bit of butter for about 2 minutes each side, try not to always flip

The Pasta
Boil the pasta according to the direction in the package

The Creamy Mushroom Sauce
Saute finely chopped garlic and shallots in a bit of olive oil and 3 teaspoon butter, add chopped mushrooms until slightly brown, add chicken stock powder, salt, pepper, sugar, add cream, add a bit of juice from the steak, pour over pasta, veggie and steak

The Veggie
Boil pieces of broccoli in water with salt, for about 3 minutes, drain and pour into iced water. Slice cherry tomatoes into halves, dump into oven with olive oil, butter and some salt until slightly golden.

It was a splurge, but totally worth it! Now, back to normal budget.

Check out more pasta recipes at Presto Pasta Night! :)