Thursday, April 2, 2009

Not Your Mom's Spaghetti!


We love goat cheese. I mean even our cat loves goat cheese. So, in trying to find a clever way to use it in a main dish, I stumbled upon an idea on the internet that used mushrooms, caramelized onions, goat cheese, and basil. Sounded like a tasty way to pull a pasta dish together, and boy was it ever! We used our favorite baby bella mushrooms to add a nice woody flavor and we got some brightness out of the fresh basil. As for the caramelized onions, you just can't go wrong when serving them. If you have never tried to fix them, you should. It is a simple preparation that yields fantastic results. Throw said ingredients together, season with salt and pepper, and you've got a meal to be proud of!

1 red onion, thinly sliced
1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 T. sugar
2 T. butter
3 T. olive oil
12 oz. pasta (we used spaghetti--we had it on hand)
8 oz. baby bella mushrooms, sliced
2 T. fresh chopped basil
4 oz. goat cheese
4 T. grated parmesan cheese (more if you like)
salt and pepper to taste

Melt 1 T. butter and 1T. oil and stir in the sugar and some salt to taste. Add onions and cook over medium heat until they are a nice brown color. This will take quite some time, so be patient. After onions are done, remove from pan and use the same pan to saute the mushrooms with remaining butter and oil. Add salt and pepper to taste.
In the meantime, cook pasta according to package, drain and add mushroom mixture along with the caramelized onions, basil, parmesan, and goat cheese. Toss to combine and season with additional salt and pepper if necessary.

4 comments:

  1. Sure looks tasty to me and I like the way you present the typed recipe. The presentation looks great and the photo is shaded perfectly!

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  2. Could you use any kind of mushrooms? Not a big portabello fan.....

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  3. I also am not a gal who really digs the full size portabello mushroom. I think the baby bellas have a more mild flavor, but I think any mushroom would do in a pinch.

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  4. Thank you Coco - I can always count on your expertise!

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