Creamy Sundried Tomato Mushroom Pasta

Making Friday night special at home dine-in with a perfect bowl of Creamy Sauce with Pasta and a glass of Malbec!

Italian cuisine can be a high carb cuisine if doing lots of pasta and pizza. My key is do homemade sauces with lots of flavor and low sodium and watch portion size. This recipe if made with store bought sauces, would use lots of cheese and calories form oil and butter. Homemade  variations work wonder with taste and eliminate unnecessary calories.


This recipe is definitely not a one pot cooking but then it should not be if its for Friday night especial. This is sundried tomato paste ( or pesto if you wanna go all gourmet) in a creamy Bechamel sauce ......in plain English white sauce...... with lots of sauteed mushrooms. Serve with any long pasta. Fettuccine works the best but I was out of it this time when I made it.

Recipe
Serves 2
Bechamel Sauce (White Sauce)
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 Tbsp flour (wheat or all purpose)
1 cup milk, warm in microwave
pinch of nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste

• Heat a heavy bottom pan on low-medium and add butter to melt
• Add flour and stir constantly, until the paste bubbles and cooks. Let it brown for a minute.
• Add warm milk, stirring continuously with a whisk so no lumps are formed and the sauce becomes smooth and silky
• Bring to a quick boil and remove from heat. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Sundried Tomato Pesto
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, drained if soaked in oil
4-5 fresh basil leaves
1 large clove garlic

• Add all ingredients in a food processor to make a smooth paste

Assembling the recipe
4 oz any long pasta
1 lb mushrooms, sliced
bechamel sauce, prepared above
sundried tomato pesto, prepared above
grated parmesan for garnishing

• In a pasta pot, cook any long pasta al-dente. For this recipe Fettuccine works the best.
• Meanwhile in a separate saute pan, cat with nonstick cooking spray and saute 1lb of sliced button or crimini mushrooms.
• When your pasta is just about to get done, heat another pan and add the white sauce and sun-dried tomato pesto. Mix well. For this recipe just sun-dried tomato paste works as fine.
• Add the cooked pasta and sauteed mushrooms.
• Garnish with freshly grated Parmesan and serve.

Bon Appetit!