Pasta with Portobello Mushrooms

Here in the DC area, we have quite a few farmers markets. However, sometimes I just don't have to the time or energy to fight the crowds and heat for fresh produce. Luckily, there's an alternative in the Washington Green Grocer. The Green Grocer delivers fresh fruits and vegetables weekly to your home. Since I liked what was in last week's box, I decided to order up. The box included portobello mushrooms, which I cooked up that night with some pasta based on a recipe found at Allrecipes.com, Easy Portobello Mushroom Saute. It was quick and tasty.

I somehow managed to convince C2 to clean the mushrooms, then I took over by cutting the mushrooms into bite size pieces and adding in some minced garlic.

I added some olive oil and butter to a pan and cooked up the mushrooms and garlic, along with some salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.

The pan looks pretty empty with just the mushrooms, but the bow tie pasta fills it up quickly. soon! After adding in the pasta, I also added a bit more olive oil and butter. It wasn't necessary, but I didn't realize that until I was already eating it.

After everything was combined in the pan, it was time to eat! I topped off the mushroom pasta with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Because cheese makes everything better, though maybe not healthier.

Mmmmmm cheesey pasta goodness!

I really enjoyed this, though I wish I would have used less olive oil and butter. I also wish we had received more mushrooms, or that I was better at figuring out how much pasta to cook for a better mushroom to pasta ratio. I'm pretty sure I'll be making this again the next time I get portobellos!

Ingredients

4 portobello mushroom caps, cleaned and cut into pieces

2 cloves garlic

Olive oil

Butter

Salt

Pepper

Red Pepper Flakes

Pasta of your choice (I'm not even going to pretend I know how much to use)

Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Boil water for pasta while you prep your other ingredients. Heat up 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a large pan over medium heat. Season mushrooms with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to suit your tastes. Add mushrooms and garlic to the pan, stirring occasionally while cooking for about 10 minutes. If you are feeling sassy, add in a little more olive oil and/or butter. If you are feeling healthy, add 1/4 cup of the pasta water to the mushroom mixture and cook down. Drain pasta and add to mushrooms in the pan. Mix together and top with Parmesan cheese.