Creamy Mushroom Pasta

Pasta with cream sauce always makes for a flavorful meal. Sometimes a cream sauce sans cheese does the trick. I even had a buffalo cream pasta recipe (which I'll remake sometime - that was an oldie) that didn't have any cheese but was delightful. Of course, that's no knock of parmesan, which this recipe includes, but just to call out that cream sauces + cheese are not married.

I tried to find something that indicated this mixture of ingredients had anything to with Tuscany, I really did. But all the Tuscan dishes I found included stuffed pasta, ground beef, or other, more complex ingredients So I started out following the Tuscany name, and if you search for "Tuscan chicken" or similar. This is more of a take on Chicken Florentine, in my opinion. But the more I learned, the less it seemed appropriate. So Creamy Mushroom Pasta took the win.

Portobello mushrooms make an excellent meat alternative, as discussed recently in my Portobello Burgers post. They add the protein, texture, and flavor to make a vegetarian dish seem meaty. They're also quick to cook and often less expensive than meat. For this recipe, I sliced two portobello caps thin and added them to a skillet with some oil. I cooked them over medium heat for 7-10 minutes, stirring often, until they were softened.

The common recipes of this variety featured sun dried tomatoes and spinach, but I decided to swap this for roasted red peppers. Same color, whole different touch. I added the onions, spinach, peppers, and garlic to the pan and continued cooking for 3-5 minutes, until the spinach was wilted and the garlic was fragrant.

It cooked down nicely and was ready for the sauce.

I stirred in the heavy cream then stirred in the grated parmesan cheese.

The end result was a creamy, beautiful, and filling dinner.

The roasted red peppers were a nice touch. They added a slight sweetness in the dish, and paired well with the mushrooms and spinach.

This worked well as a quick dinner with a lot of flavor. Who says you have to make a boring frozen skillet meal? This took about 20 minutes, it was well liked, and I go ta little meal prep, too.

Tuscan Mushroom Pasta Recipe

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons cooking oil (I used avocado)

2 portobello mushrooms, sliced thin

1 teaspoon parsley (1 tablespoon fresh)

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons mined garlic, or 3 minced cloves

1/4 cup finely chopped yellow onion

1/2 cup roasted red bell peppers

2 cups baby spinach

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/4 cup grated parmesan

2 cups cooked pasta

Instructions:

Heat a large skillet with oil. portobello caps thin and added them to a skillet with some oil. I cooked them over medium heat for 7-10 minutes, stirring often, until softened. Add the onions, spinach, peppers, and garlic to the pan and continue cooking for 3-5 minutes, until the spinach is wilted and the garlic is fragrant. Stir in heavy cream, then add parmesan cheese and mix well. Serve over cooked pasta.

adapted from creamy tuscan chicken