Saturday, November 16, 2013

Pasta with mushroom and spinach

I was baking bread and felt like making some pasta. My sister's eyes glittered when I said pasta. She is a real foodie and I am lucky to have her around to keep trying all that I make.

My taste for pasta has evolved over the years. I earlier used to like red sauce pasta but I don't know since when I started liking white sauce pasta. I have been making pasta for a long time now and each time it feels like I have made something better. It is a simple recipe. The pasta taste delicious and is beautifully balanced. I like the not so dry, creamy, mushroomy and cheesy pasta. Next time I will make fresh pasta at home.

The bread was baking in the oven (will share the recipe once I take it to perfection), mushrooms were sizzling in the pan and pasta was boiling in the boiler. There were so many fragrances in the house that everyone was confused. I was like I don't know why is it smelling so good in here. Obviously I was giggling with happiness. I was a little extra happy cooking pasta and was very engrossed. As usual cooking calmed me and channelized my energy. I can go on blabbering but let me take you through the recipe.

Pasta with mushroom and spinach
Serves 4

Ingredients

1. 250 g tagliatelle
2. 1 1/2 tbsp whole purpose flour
3. 2 cup milk (~ 500 mls )
4. 1 1/2 + 1/2 tbsp butter
5. 7-8 button mushrooms (or as per your cravings for mushroom ;) )
6. 2 plum tomatoes
7. 150-200 g finely chopped spinach
8. 1 slice of a large aubergine
9. 40 g cheese
10. 4 garlic cloves
11. 1 1/2 tbsp + 1 tsp olive oil
12. 1/2 tsp oregano
13. 1/4 tsp black pepper
14. Salt to taste

For the Sauce:
1. Heat up a sauce pan and put 1 1/2 tbsp butter in it.
2. Add flour when the butter has melted.
3. Mix the flour well with the butter and let it cook for about 2 minutes. The butter and flour mixture will have a bright yellow color.
4. Add the milk and keep stirring the sauce. Continuous stirring will ensure that the flour does not form lumps.
5. Cook the sauce for another 4-5 minutes or till it starts thickening up.
6. Now add grated cheese, salt, black pepper, oregano and mix. Turn off the heat.


For Pasta:
1. Boil about 6-7 cups of water. Add salt and 1 tsp olive oil while boiling the water.
2. Add the pasta to the boiling water.
3. Cook the pasta as per the time indicated on the packet as different types of pasta require different cooking time. Tagliatelle requires 4-5 minutes.
4. Now drain the water and keep the pasta aside.

For Veggies:
1. Heat 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil in a wok.
2. Now add the chopped garlic and fry for a minute.
3. Add sliced mushrooms and 1/2 tbsp butter and let the mushrooms sizzle for a minute or two. Mushrooms taste better when they are still crunchy.
4. Now add the sliced aubergine, sliced tomato and spinach to the wok. Add some salt as per your taste and let the vegetables cook for about 2-3 minutes. (I roasted the tomatoes along with the bread in the oven and then chopped them and added them to the vegetables at the end)


Assembling together:
1. Heat up the sauce, add vegetables and mix properly.
2. Now add pasta and cook for a minute on high heat.

Serve hot. Garnish with some cheese shavings if you like.



The pasta was absolutely delicious and creamy. Mushrooms, spinach and aubergine go really well with the pasta. The sauce dries up when it is kept so I would suggest you to prepare the sauce when everything is ready. This is my all time favorite recipe for pasta and it has been running on repeat for a long time.

Have fun making and eating guys.

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