Italian Surf and Turf

Ingredients

2 beef tenderloin steaks (about 2 inches thick)
1 package dried mushrooms
3 sprigs rosemary, leaves removed and stems discarded
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
2 ciabatta rolls, split in half widthwise
1/2 pound cremini mushrooms, cleaned and quartered
3 garlic cloves, 1 left whole, 1 cracked and 1 grated, divided
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup Marsala wine

1/4 pound (about 8) jumbo shrimp, cleaned and deveined, tails left on
1/2 cup white wine
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup (about a palmful) parsley, chopped

Yields: 2 servings

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400ºF.

Take the tenderloins out of the refrigerator and let come up to room temperature for about 10 minutes.

In a mini food processor or coffee grinder, grind up the dried mushrooms. Add the rosemary, some salt and freshly ground black pepper to the processor and pulse again until everything is ground up and combined. Rub both sides of the steaks with the mushroom-rosemary rub.

Place a medium-size cast iron skillet over high heat with 2 turns of the pan of EVOO, about 2 tablespoons. When the pan is screaming hot, add the steaks and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Once the steaks are seared, transfer them to a small baking sheet.

Place the split ciabatta rolls onto a small baking sheet and transfer both the steaks and the rolls into the oven to finish cooking and toast, about 5 minutes for a medium steak and a golden brown roll.

As soon as the rolls come out of the oven, rub the surface of each of them with the whole clove of garlic. Tear or cut them into chunks and set them aside.

When the steaks have finished cooking, remove them from the oven and cover them with foil to rest.

To the same cast iron skillet the steaks were cooked in, add the cremini mushrooms and cracked garlic clove and cook over medium-high heat until the mushrooms are golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add butter and marsala to the pan and remove from the heat – the residual heat of the pan will reduce the sauce slightly. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Place a large skillet over medium-high heat with 2 turns of the pan of EVOO, about 2 tablespoons. Season the shrimp with salt and freshly ground black pepper. When the oil is hot add the shrimp and grated garlic to the pan. Cook the shrimp for about 1 minute on each side, then add the white wine and lemon juice to the pan. Remove the pan from heat and toss in the parsley and torn pieces of toasted roll. Stir everything around so that the bread soaks up the extra liquid.

Serve each person one tenderloin steak with a large scoop of mushrooms on top and some shrimp alongside.