Quick Cheese and Mushroom Pasta
Penne Funghi - Recipe for an Easy TV Dinner
A TV dinner doesn't have to mean something cooked in a microwave. You can cook an easy, and tasty, meal with pasta, olive oil , a few mushrooms and some cheese.
Quick Cheese Pasta - Recipe
The great thing about pasta is that it’s so quick to cook. It’s also so versatile that you can easily combine it with odds and ends in your fridge to make a quick and tasty meal. For the simplest dish of all, just cook some dried pasta following the instructions on the packet. When it’s ready, drain it and serve drizzled with good quality olive oil and some freshly grated Parmesan cheese on top. You can eat this with a crisp green salad, some steamed broccoli or just a sliced tomato if you want a quick TV dinner.
Add dark, leafy greens
If you’ve got some leafy greens in the fridge, you can add a vitamin rich bite to your pasta. Italian cavalo nero, black kale, would add an authentic touch but dark greens, or curly kale will do just as well. Wash the greens and cut them into narrow strips. You can then pop them in a steamer and let them cook over the bubbling pasta, or stir fry them quickly when the pasta is nearly ready. Then drain the pasta as above, mix in the greens, and stir in the olive oil and grated Parmesan. Plenty of freshly ground black pepper adds the finishing touch.
Cheese and Mushrooms
Cheese, mushrooms and pasta also go supremely well together. It’s good to keep some Parmesan in the fridge, ready for super-fast suppers. However, if you haven’t got any, you can also improvise with other cheeses – the strongly flavoured ones go particularly well.
This recipe is for a quick cheese and mushroom pasta – penne funghi.
Ingredients
- Dried pasta – penne (quills) are ideal, allow 2-3 oz per person
- Handful of button or field mushrooms
- Around 2 oz hard cheese (vary the amount up or down, to taste), grated. Use whatever plain cheese you have to hand, you can mix a mild Edam with a stronger Cheddar if you wish; otherwise a tangy blue cheese, like Danish blue is good.
- A little single cream, or crème fraiche (optional)
- Parmesan cheese, for grating
- Olive oil – for frying (or a knob of butter if you prefer)
- Black pepper
Method
- Bring a large pan of water to the boil and add the dried pasta. Cook it according to the instructions on the packet (this tends to vary between 10-15 minutes).
- When the pasta is nearly ready, slice the mushrooms, then sauté them gently in the olive oil (or butter). They’ll be ready in 2 or 3 minutes, when you see them starting to release their juices.
- When the pasta is al dente (it gives a ‘hard bite’ when you taste it), drain it. Then return it to the saucepan, on a very low heat. Add the cooked mushrooms, then stir in the grated cheese. It will gently melt.
- If you want a creamy pasta, now is the time to pour on a little single cream or add a spoonful of crème fraiche. Stir it into the pasta gently.
- Remove the pasta from the heat and turn into a warmed serving dish. Grate Parmesan cheese over the top, and season with some freshly ground black pepper.
Serve with a crisp green salad.
