Pasta with Mushroom Cheese Sauce and Basil

Regular readers may be aware that I'm not a huge pasta fan, especially if it comes floating in a sea of tomato sauce.  Darn those Spanish conquistadors.  Did they have to bring the tomato back to Europe, after invading the Aztec empire?  Ah well, at least they brought back chocolate, for all the chocoholic fiends (who? Me?).  

So you're probably thinking, what's going on here?  Well, this is pasta enveloped in a cheesy sauce, made with Mersey Valley spreadable cheese.  I decided to make (nearly) the ultimate sacrifice, and give this recipe a go for the blog.  Mr P. was very happy, as he looooves pasta.

This recipe is on the packet, and normally I shy away from such things, but this one caught my eye, so here we are.  I added bacon to it for a meaty zing, but make it without and you have an easy vego dinner.  This soft cheese is described as 'Vintage Club Cheddar, sharp and creamy', so you get the idea if you're hunting up a similar cheese.  Apparently a Club Cheddar is a mix of cheeses, blended till it becomes soft in texture.

creamy, cheesy, herby - delish!

Serves 4:

ingredients:

300-350g./10.5-12.3oz pasta (fusilli or penne)

2 tbs olive oil

1 brown onion, chopped

3 rashers (about 100g./10.5oz) rindless bacon, chopped

1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

250g./8oz of mushrooms, sliced

375 mL (1½ cups) of cream - thickened or pure

1/2 bunch basil leaves, chopped or torn

150g./5oz of Mersey Valley Spreadable cheese

a hefty dash of dried oregano, and of lightly dried chives (optional)

sea salt and black pepper, to taste

40g./1.4oz of parmesan cheese, grated

Method:

Fill a large saucepan with cold water, bring to the boil (see next step now), tip in your pasta of choice and cook it for the requisite number of minutes as per the packet - or to your favoured degree of al dente

While the water decides to boil, get on with the sauce - i.e. start chopping!

Grab a large saucepan or frypan, pour in the oil, let it heat up, then tip in the onion, bacon, garlic and mushrooms

Stir till everything becomes tender, golden and smells delicious

Now pour in the cream, and let it simmer till the sauce starts to thicken

Grab a wooden spoon and stir in the Mersey Valley cheese

Turn down the heat, and season with the salt and pepper

Throw on the basil leaves, and the dried herbs, toss the drained pasta and sauce together, and sprinkle with the parmesan cheese

Serve with a chopped tomato and red onion salad - tomato, red onion, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper

Notes:

Their recipe says to cook up the pasta after the sauce is done, but that seems odd to me, as your sauce will be sitting around getting cold and gluggy for up to 20 minutes!  I reckon start the pasta when you start chopping, so they're ready at the same time

They say use 350 grams of pasta - this is a lot!  You can easily use less, unless you really love lots (and lots) of pasta with your sauce

gather your ingredients

sauté the veg.

add the cream and basil

get Mr P. to stir in the pasta

grate the parmesan

and eat!

This is a very rich dish, so you may not need a lot of it.  The salad helps cut the kilojoules (if only!).  I've been giving meals to our elderly neighbour during Covid, so we took a bowl over to her.  I hope she doesn't think I'm trying to do her in - death by cholesterol:-)

(Joining up with Marg from the Intrepid Reader for Weekend Cooking.)

artwork © Sherry's Pickings

Chicken Bacon And Mushroom Fettuccine

All the world loves pasta I'm told, but I don't think I got the memo.  I eat it when offered, or make it to please Mr P. who is a massive pasta fan.  Did I say massive?:=)  So being such a kind soul, I made this for him recently.  This is another recipe from Chelsea Winter's book Homemade Happiness.  There are lots of delicious-sounding dishes here, but I'm a wee bit bemused by her frequent use of large amounts of stock that she boils down for aeons, then thickens with a roux aka cornflour slurry.  Huh?  Why?  Maybe it's a Kiwi thing? or should that be 'thung'?

creamy chicken mushroom and bacon fettuccine

Serves 4:


ingredients:


225g. rindless bacon, chopped into smallish pieces

700g. approx of skinless chicken thigh fillets (i.e. no bones)

sea salt and ground black pepper

2 tbs olive oil

25g. (2.5 dsp) butter

7 garlic cloves, crushed or finely chopped

350g. mushrooms, thinly sliced

125 mLs (1/2 cup) dry white wine

1 tbs fresh herbs, finely chopped - use your fave - thyme, parsley etc

zest of 1 lemon

1 tsp chicken stock powder stirred into 125 mLs (1/2 cup) of boiling water

375 mLs (1.5 cups) of cream 

125g. (1 cup) parmesan, grated

1.5 tbs cornflour mixed in with 65 mLs (1/4 cup) of milk

1 cup of cooked peas, or 2 cups of baby spinach leaves

2 tbs parsley, finely chopped

fresh basil, torn with your fingers - try a handful, or to taste

350g. of fettucine, cooked as per the packet instructions



Method:


First fry the bacon pieces in a large frypan over medium-high heat

Scoop them out when nicely browned and put aside

Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel and sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper

Add 1 tbs olive oil to the pan, bring to the heat and place the chicken fillets in the pan

Let them cook till you have a lovely brown colour on the bottom, then turn the chicken over and brown the other side

Set it aside while you add the other 1 tbs olive oil, the butter and the garlic to the pan

Stir over medium heat for a minute or 2

Add the mushrooms, wine, herbs and lemon zest

Allow to bubble away for a minute

Now into the pan goes the chopped up chicken, bacon, stock, cream, parmesan and cornflour slurry/roux

Let it simmer for about 10 minutes till it thickens and melds

Throw in the peas or spinach leaves, and the parsley and basil

Season with salt and pepper if needed

Toss as much of the fettuccine as you fancy in with the sauce

Throw on some extra parmesan and herbs if you feel inclined


Notes:


Chelsea's recipe actually starts with reducing 2 cups of stock to 1/2 cup stock before you do anything else;  mmm frankly I have better things to do with my time so I figured adding stock powder to half a cup of boiling water would do instead - but feel free:=)

Chelsea also suggests using 500g. of pasta!  Mr P. told me that was too much, but I cooked it anyway.  Oh boy, was it too much.  If I had put it all in with the sauce, there would have been very little sauce and very little flavour.  And it was just way too much, but once again, feel free

ingredients gathered

bacon fried off

chicken cooked till golden

get Mr P. to chop up the chook

stir in the chicken, bacon etc

snip up the pasta if you like it shorter 

I'm not that keen on slurping up long strands of wet pasta, and having it drip all over my chin.  So, I grab a pair of scissors and give it a snip or 3 in the colander.  Yep, much better.

Mr P. tossing the pasta

sprinkle with extra parmesan and herbs if desired 

This was a really flavoursome, filling pasta dish that fed me and hubby for a couple of nights.  Chelsea's books are packed with homey, comforting dishes.  But I reckon you can skip or adjust some of her steps.  Spending 20 minutes to reduce down some stock for this dish is just not practical for the busy home cook.  Sure if you have plenty of time, go ahead, but I reckon we all need to simplify where possible.  Her recipes can easily be adjusted, so enjoy her books if you get hold of them.  She has some great ideas, which will give you some inspiration even if you don't slavishly follow her methods.

my herby, thymey-wimey doodle

Pastitso - Baked Pasta With Beef And Cream Sauce

I think most people love pasta.  I eat it, and I don't mind it, but it would never be my first choice for a meal.  I know, I know, weird you say, especially as I've made a pasta dish here.  But this was an old fave of ours from our younger days, when we lived in share houses with lots of hungry people.  So it's an oldie but a goodie.  Something to put together on a quiet Sunday when you have a bit of spare time.  'Cos it does take a bit of time, but it's worth it, and it's very easy to make.

I have adapted this recipe slightly from that of Tess Mallos in her book The Complete Middle East Cookbook, a very well-thumbed and loved cookbook in our house.  So many wonderful recipes to be tried out, and devoured.  

just about to have dinner:=)

There are 3 parts to this dish; you can make the meat sauce much earlier in the day and leave it sit till you feel the need to get dinner together.  Tess suggests cooking the pasta up first, and then making the meat sauce, but I think it's best the other way around.  I didn't like the idea of the macaroni getting all gluggy for ages while the meat sauce cooked and cooled a bit.


Serves 6-8: (maybe less in our greedy household)



ingredients:


meat sauce: 


2 tbs (40g.) butter

1 tbs (20 mLs) olive oil

1 large brown onion, chopped

1/2 small carrot, diced or grated

2-3 small garlic cloves, finely chopped

750g. beef mince

60g. tomato paste

125 mLs (1/2 cup) red or white wine

125 mLs (1/2 cup) stock - I used my own homemade chicken

2 tbs parsley, chopped or 1-2 tbs dried oregano

1/2 tsp sugar

salt and pepper to taste - I used about 1 tsp salt, and lots of pepper



Macaroni layer:


375g. macaroni - I used Liscio Piccolo 40

4 tbs (80g.) butter  

125g. parmesan, grated - half for this layer; half for the top

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

3 eggs, lightly beaten


Cream Sauce:


80g. butter

60g. plain flour

750 mLs (3 cups) milk

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste 

1 egg, lightly beaten




Method:


For the meat sauce:


Melt the butter in a large saucepan, and add the oil

Tip in the onion and carrot, and stir for a few minutes

Add the garlic and stir it in

Up the heat and add the beef mince, stirring in well

Once the meat is starting to brown, throw in the tomato paste, wine, stock, parsley, sugar, salt and pepper

Give it all a good stir and let it simmer away for 30 mins., covered

Then put it aside while you make the macaroni and the cream sauce


For the Macaroni:


Boil the pasta in salted water till al dente - mine took 10-12 mins.

Drain, and tip the macaroni back into the pan

Keep the pan on a very low heat; add the butter and stir it in

Add half the cheese, the nutmeg, salt and pepper

Stir it together well and allow to cool down

Pour in the beaten eggs, stir in well and set aside while you make the cream sauce


For the Cream Sauce:


Melt the butter and stir in the flour

Cook on a low heat for a couple of minutes till it starts to sizzle around the edges

Add all the milk at once and stir well

Bring it to the boil, stirring constantly

Boil gently for a couple of minutes

Add the nutmeg, salt and pepper

Cool for a few minutes before stirring in the beaten egg


Now stir 125 mLs (half a cup) of the cream sauce into the meat sauce


Grab yourself a very large baking dish or casserole dish - I used my enamel roaster of 30cm. which has a depth of about 7cm.  Tess suggests using an oven dish 33 x 23 x 8cm.

Butter it well, and spoon half the macaroni into the bottom

Now add all the meat sauce, then the rest of the macaroni on top

Pour the cream sauce evenly over the layers, making sure the macaroni is completely covered

Sprinkle the rest of the cheese evenly over the dish

Bake at 185C for 40-50 mins till golden on top and sizzling around the edges

Let it stand for 10 mins. then serve with a green salad

ingredients gathered

get Mr P. to stir the beef in

throw in all the other ingredients

put the butter in with the cooked, drained pasta 

stir the beaten egg into the white sauce 

pour half a cup of the cream sauce into the beef sauce

pour the luscious sauce over the macaroni

cheese scattered over; ready for baking at 185C for 40-50 mins.

ready for eating!

a fabulous recipe collection 

I have used and loved this cookbook for years.  It's arranged by country; with many terrific recipes, clearly written out and illustrated.  Tess wrote a number of cookbooks centring on Middle Eastern and Greek cooking.  This one was first published in 1979, with reprints regularly.  The recipes have the ingredients listed in order of use, and the steps are numbered to make it very easy to follow.  Hail Tess, who sadly passed away in 2012.

my nutmeg doodle