This yumminess happened last Friday evening. Recipe numero due from my awesome cookbook, Everyday Pasta. Cheesy mushroomy goodness. Without further ado, the recipe (with a few extra tips/thoughts/ideas from yours truly):
How much do you love looking at a new recipe and realizing that you already have just about every ingredient in your pantry? I dig it! It's so, so much fun incorporating a special new ingredient or two (like fancy-shmancy mushrooms or a random but exciting new cheese) with ones you're already familiar with.
Start by melting the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
You can prep the cheese and mushrooms beforehand if you want, but I'm a fan of doing everything while I go, so while the butter is melting...I chopped the gorgonzola into chunks. Gorgonzola is a slightly soft, strong smelling cheese. I had to go to Whole Foods to find it, and then had to decide between three varieties! It definitely wasn't an everyday ingredient for me.
When the butter is hot, add the flour and whisk until smooth (about 2 minutes). It doesn't look very pretty, but it sure wasn't lumpy!
Add the milk, whisk until smooth, and bring the sauce to a simmer. Whisk, whisk, whisk! Whisking is fun. Simmer for 2 minutes, whisking constantly.
At this point...Presto! The sauce thickens! Kitchen-cooking chemistry. Love it!
Now remove the pan from the heat. Add the gorgonzola and stir until melted. Season with salt and pepper. Set the pan aside and cover it to keep it warm. This is the step where you really feel like a chef. The cheese melts perfectly into the sauce and the result is deliciously cheesy.
At this point, put a large pot of water on to boil. Lest you wonder if there is actually any pasta involved in this pasta dish!
Bring out a new pan and heat the oil over medium heat. Add mushrooms and saute! I chose white button mushrooms, crimini mushrooms and oyster mushrooms. The oyster mushrooms had a different texture than I was used to (larger & squishier), and retained a lot of water when I washed them...so over all I think next time I would use portabello instead. I also added in a shallot at this point because why not?
While the mushrooms are coking away, add your pasta to the happily boiling water. See? It's all about multi-tasking.
After your shroomies are sautéed (about 12 mins), add the peas. The recipe says to thaw the peas beforehand...which might be a good idea. I didn't. It turned out okay, but there was a little bit of extra water for a while (which really perplexed me then but makes sense now). Season with salt & pepper.
Since I'm usually just cooking for Taylor and me, I try to minimize the amount of serving dishes we use, so I often just mix and serve meals like this from the pot on the stove. Don't judge me. It's worth it when we're not cleaning a zillion dishes after a meal. I'm sure it'll change when we're feeding more than just us. Anyway, when the pasta is perfectly al dente, strain and return to the pot. Pour in the cheese sauce and mix together. The sauce is amazing and will perfectly coat every little nook and cranny of the bowties.
Then, stir in your mushroom mixture and voila! Perfection. Deliciousness. Dinner.
This should be where you see a picture of two steaming bowls full of pasta sitting on a beautifully decorated, candle-lit table, right next to a loaf of crusty French bread and two glasses of wine. Alas, the picture of the finished product that I did take on my phone didn't turn out well...and, while we did have all those delicious extras to go along with our meal, we enjoyed it sitting on the sofa together with a movie on instead!
This was a great recipe. It was fun to make, a little different, but not too complicated. The gorgonzola is a little strong, so don't make it for someone who is a little wary about cheese. Unfortunately it's not as good heated up the next day as fresh, so only make enough for one meal. I think it needs a little protein too, so I'd grill and slice up some chicken to go with it next time. Final consensus? I'll be making this again.
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