Saturday, December 12, 2009

Spinach and Mushroom Alfredo


So, quick post this week. Is this week's recipe extremely inventive? Not so much. Is it delicious, warm, filling and easy to make? Why, yes! Glad you asked!
I (Iain) first prepared this dish on the fly when cooking for a large group and someone else had already procured the ingredients. I just followed my cooking instincts and put together the ingredients I thought sounded good, and the result was deemed "orgasmic" in the words of one of the eaters. After getting such a good reception for it that first time I've gone on to prepare it several more times since, and it never fails for a good dinner in not a lot of time.

Spinach and Mushroom Alfredo

Ingredients
1 lb fettuccine
1 cup heavy cream
1 stick of butter
1 cup Parmesan
salt and pepper
15-20 mushrooms
4 medium-large cloves garlic, minced
3 hefty handfuls of spinach
butter for sauteing

Materials
Knife and Cutting Board
Skillet
Large pot
Wooden spoon
Tongs

Music Listened To
"Dublin Lady" by Andy M Stewart

1. Bring the water to a boil and add the fettuccine. In the meantime, slice your mushrooms and mince your garlic. Heat the skillet with some butter (don't go too skimpy - if you're making this dish, throw your fat content worries to the wind). Saute the mushrooms with most of the garlic - I usually add some basil to this step.

2. Once the pasta is done, drain it (promptly!) and throw in the butter, cream and Parmesan. Add the remaining garlic, salt and pepper. Stir together over low heat and turn off once combined. In the meantime, add the spinach to the mushrooms and stir until the spinach is cooked down.

3. Dump the spinach and mushrooms into the pasta and suace. Stir together with tongs and serve!

Pretty simple, eh? Despite my previous comment, if you DO want to make the dish less heavy, saute the mushrooms in a little olive oil instead (it'll go farther than the butter) and sub milk in for the heavy cream. You can also cut down on the butter in the sauce. It won't be quite as delicious, but it should still taste good and it won't be quite so much of a heavyweight. I personally like the heaviness of it now that it's winter and it takes probably twice as much food to fill me up, but I also, as has been observed, am a black hole when it comes to food.

Enjoy!

2 comments:

  1. Iain! (formerly known as Ian)

    Do you realize that in a marvelous way you are celebrating the persona of one of your toddler heros, the Frugal Gourmet? Who would have known that when some of your first words were to name one of those Fisher-Price wooden toy characters the Frugal Gourmet, you yourself would become a blogger celebrating the joys of preparing fantastic food on a budget & a song? We (your Mom & other moms who gathered regularly to share playtime & mom-time) were always amused with your assignment to one of those more-or-less nondescript little people as the Frugal Gourmet, but it now makes so much sense! Life imitates Art!

    Please keep sharing your adventures with cooking. Love, Emily J's mom.

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  2. Hey! Wow, how did you find this? Thanks for the comment - I do remember naming the little Fisher Price toy actually, although it'd escaped my mind for a while! How are you and your clan? I hope you enjoy the posts to come!
    Iain

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