What We Ate Wednesday--One Pot Creamy Garlic Mushroom Pasta

Hello lovelies! Still working on quarantine food. We have been able to get fresh kale at Tesco once a week but the rest was stuff we had lounging in the fridge (sad little button mushrooms that needed to be eaten) and half a packet of gluten free spaghetti that needed to be used up.

I did a bit of searching and and found this recipe from VEGAN HEAVEN. Her recipe also called for frozen peas, but they had been sold out the last time I sent Spiderman to brave the shops.

I had gotten a good deal on dried exotic mushrooms like shiitake, oyster, slippery jack and champignon from Grape Tree before the whole lockdown thing so have been throwing them in recipes for extra meatiness wherever it seemed appropriate. This seemed like an ideal recipe. But just skip them if all you have is fresh. Or double them if you can't get any fresh. Substitute peas for kale or kale for peas like I did. Or spinach instead of  kale. Or mix and match with whatever you have.

One Pot Creamy Garlic Mushroom Pasta

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 onion, chopped

half a packet (250g) GF or regular spaghetti broken in half

3 cups vegetable broth

1 1/2 cups unsweetened nondairy milk (I used soya milk)

3 cups mushrooms, sliced

handful of dried exotic mushrooms if you have some

1 cup fresh spinach/kale (or extra peas)

1 cup frozen peas (or extra greens) defrosted

1 teaspoon tapioca starch or cornflour (optional, but recommended. This makes the pasta creamy)

salt, to taste

black pepper, to taste

2 tsp dried mixed herbs

a squeeze of lemon at the end to lift it (I used bottled as no fresh lemons could be found) 

Instructions

1.In a large pot, sauté the onion in a splash of oil or vegetable broth for about 3 minutes. Then add the garlic and the mushrooms and cook everything for another 2-3 minutes on high heat.

2.Add the uncooked spaghetti , the vegetable broth, and the nondairy milk. Stir a couple of times and gently push the pasta in the liquid when they're soft enough. It really helps if you have broken the pasta in half. Bubble away on a low boil. 

3. Set your timer for however long the pasta says it should cook for. It may take a little longer than normal. Stir very frequently to keep the pasta from sticking together.Check your pasta often to see if it is ready When the pasta is about halfway done, add your greens and/or defrosted peas and stir to combine. Cook until greens are wilted and pasta is done.  If you're using tapioca starch, combine the starch with 1 tablespoon of water and whisk until well combined. Add to the pasta and season with salt, pepper,mixed herbs and squeeze of lemon. 

That's it. it was really quick and tasty and fed 2 people well.