Name: Creamy Mushroom and Spinach Tagliatelle
Prep time: 0:0
Cook time: 0:0
Yield: 2
Cuisine: Pasta, Italian
Ingredients: 2 shallots; 200g small chestnut mushrooms; 2 cloves of garlic; A knob of butter; 1 tablespoon of olive oil; A few sprigs of fresh thyme; 1 tablespoon of plain flour; 5-6 heaped tablespoons of low fat crème fraiche; Salt and freshly milled black pepper; 200g fresh tagliatelle; 75g fresh baby spinach leaves; Fresh parmesan cheese

Posted on

2 March 2016

by

Liz Robb

Ingredients

2 shallots

200g small chestnut mushrooms

2 cloves of garlic

A knob of butter

1 tablespoon of olive oil

A few sprigs of fresh thyme

1 tablespoon of plain flour

5-6 heaped tablespoons of low fat crème fraiche

Salt and freshly milled black pepper

200g fresh tagliatelle

75g fresh baby spinach leaves

Fresh parmesan cheese

Servings

2

Person

Preparation

1

Peel the shallots and chop them very finely. Wipe the mushrooms and slice them thinly. Peel and crush the garlic cloves.
2

Heat the butter and oil together in a large saucepan over a low heat. Gently sauté the shallot and garlic for about 3 minutes, until soft and pale brown.
3

Add the sliced mushrooms and cook for a further 8-10 minutes, allowing most of the water coming from the mushrooms to evaporate.
4

Finely chop the thyme leaves and stir into the mushroom mixture.
5

Sprinkle in the flour, stir and cook for a minute or two.
6

Next stir in the crème fraiche and simmer gently for a few minutes to thicken. Season with salt and black pepper.
7

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water for about 4 minutes, or until just al dente. Drain well, add to the sauce and toss them well together.
8

Add the baby spinach leaves and toss with the pasta
9

they will only take a moment to wilt, then the pasta is ready to eat.
10

Serve immediately with plenty of fresh parmesan grated on the top.

Cooks Note

A simple but tasty pasta dish using fresh tagliatelle, chestnut mushrooms and baby spinach, all in a creamy sauce, this is really quick and easy to put together.

Serve simply as it is with a side salad, or use to accompany salmon steaks or freshly grilled prawns, or possibly a juicy steak.

Serves 2.

To make this dish vegetarian, just substitute the parmesan for a vegetarian hard cheese.

Try using fresh basil instead of thyme.

To give the pasta a kick, finely chop a fresh red chilli to stir in, or a few dried chilli flakes.

You can, of course, use dried pasta, although I think fresh is always better if you can get it.

I cook with low fat crème fraiche wherever I can to reduce the fat content of my foo