Every now and again, I have a preconceived notion about what a recipe should look like. So when I go out on the Interwebz looking for it, I get confounded by the recipes I often find.
Take today’s recipe for example. I received a nice bag of cremini mushrooms from my CSA last week, and so I wanted to make a creamy white sauce with mushrooms to serve over pasta. For some reason “creamy white sauce” in my head equals “roux + white whine + heavy cream”, but I couldn’t find a recipe like this. Although some recipes included white wine, none of them started with a roux, and most had plain yogurt or sour cream.
So I made one up.
Creamy Mushroom Sauce for Pasta
an rpm original
1 pound pasta of your choice (I used whole wheat penne)
2 tablespoons salted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
four cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon rosemary
2 teaspoons dried basil
2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
2 1/2 cups cremini mushrooms
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup vegetable stock
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
ground pepper, salt to taste
1. Prepare the pasta according to package directions.
2. In the meantime, in a heavy-bottomed saute pan, heat the butter and olive oil together. Add the garlic and saute for 5 minutes.
3. Add dried herbs (the amounts here are approximate). Slowly sprinkle in flour, stirring continually.
4. Stir in mushrooms and saute for 7 minutes. Stir in white wine and stock, then slowly add heavy cream. When mixture starts to thicken, stir in parmesan cheese, ground pepper, and salt.
5. Serve over hot pasta.
We had this with a green salad, chicken for the meat eaters (had my ILs to dinner), and Quorn nuggets for the rest of us. Oh, and the kids had marinara sauce. They don’t like mushrooms (yet). It was a simple and filling meal!
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Other stuff I cooked this weekend: I made my haluski, and I plan to eat every single bite of it. So good. These people in my household who don’t like cabbage are nuts! I also made this delicious and pretty beet soup (at the suggestion of @XTREMELYSERIOUS Justine), and I can’t wait to finish off those leftovers. It’s a nice change up from plain, old roasted beets!
What did you do in the kitchen this weekend?
Red Pen Mama 
I cooked with H this weekend. Since we are both continuing to be meat-free eaters, we have enjoyed cooking together. (Enjoyed for the most part…she has the occasional “Teenager” moment; I have my “Agitated Mother” moments…) Friday night we made Tortellini Soup. It has leeks, celery, store bought spinach and cheese tortellini, finished with a little cream and fino sherry. Crowd pleaser! On Saturday we made egg rolls, based on an Alton Brown recipe for vegetarian steamed dumplings with napa cabbage, carrots, tofu, bell pepper and scallions. My grocer did not have wonton wrappers, so we used egg roll wrappers. Once they were rolled up we brushed them with melted butter and baked. They were crispy and browned, but not greasy like carry-out. It was a great cooking weekend 🙂
Those egg rolls sound delicious! I may have to check out that recipe.
It was a great cooking weekend. Very messy though! 🙂