Creamy Mushroom Pasta

Pasta always comes to the rescue on those evenings when I'm short on time and have absolutely no idea what to make for dinner. It's so versatile and easily adaptable to our tastes and the ingredients available at that time. On one such evening, i had some cream, cream cheese and mushrooms on hand and so decided to whip this up. It hardly took 30 minutes and was deliciously creamy.

CREAMY MUSHROOM PASTA

Ingredients:
Penne - 6 to 8 ounces, cooked acc. to package directions in plenty of boiling water
Mushroom (Button or baby bella) - 8 oz, sliced
Onion - 1 small, sliced thin into 1 inch pieces
Garlic - 3 to 4 cloves, chopped or crushed
Red Bell Pepper - half of a medium one, chopped
Roma Tomato - half of a small one, chopped (optional)
Light Cream cheese - 4 oz, softened
Cream - 3 tbsp
Olive oil + Butter - 1 tbsp
Red chilli flakes - 1 tsp
Basil and chives - 1 tsp each, chopped ( I used fresh)
Parmesan cheese - about 2 to 3 tbsp
Salt and pepper to taste.

Method:
1) Drain cooked pasta and reserve about 1 cup of the cooking liquid - which will help thicken our sauce, if too dry.

2) Heat the olive oil and butter combination in a pan and toss in the garlic, onions and once they brown slightly, toss in the red pepper and allow to soften with the red chilli flakes.

3) Next add the mushroom slices and a pinch of salt so the mushrooms soften and cook down till almost dry. Add the chopped tomato and saute till heated through with salt to taste.

4) Mix the softened cream cheese with a few tablespoons of the cooking liquid to make a smooth paste and add this to the vegetable mixture along with the cream and cooked pasta.

5) Season with pepper to taste... allow this to simmer for a few minutes until the sauce is thick enough to coat the pasta.

6) Finally stir in the parmesan cheese along with the fresh herbs and serve.

Comments

  1. loooks good,.nd yummy nd healthy

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  2. Butter,cream cheese,pasta n mushrooms...Tooooo creamy and easy to get into my mouth :)

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  3. Wow, i can feel the creamy texture of Pasta. Delicious one Lavaanya!

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  4. I make pastas when lost on ideas as well..urs is truly a creamy delight!

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  5. I love mushroom pasta :-) in any way... and yours looks inviting :-)

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  6. Looks professional, Lavanya! I don't eat much pasta but love drooling over it!

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  7. I love pasta wth mashrooms.. looks yu

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  8. pasta is an easy 'go to' dish....i really wish i liked mushrooms you know....but i think it is too chewy for my liking...but i am liking the sauce for this one...will trt it with peas or something :)

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  9. nice recipe for pasta...will try sometime..

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  10. Nice recipie for pasta looks healthy and yummy.....Will try sometime....

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  11. Mushroom sauce sounds good, I like it!:)

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  12. I dont cook much pasta..Urs look so creamy and very easy to make too.

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  13. wow mushroom based pasta, love the idea laavanya!! i looved mushrooms! :-)

    BTW, theres something for you on my blog!

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  14. I too turn to pasta a lot when I need a quick meal and the usual fare is not sounding good enough.

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  15. i am not much into pasta but ur recipe is surely making me hungry :)

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  16. Yummy pasta Laavanya!

    BTW, something is waiting for you at my blog. Pick it up at this address:

    http://teluguruchi.blogspot.com/2008/07/mint-pulao.html

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  17. looks greaaaat laavanya. creamy and delicious.

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  18. yummm... good to see one more creamy pasta from you :)

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  19. Hi Lavanya, I just had this dish on saturday at a restaurant, and was wondering how to make it at home! Thanks for the recipe.:-)

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  20. Pasta looks greatttt, yummy yummy!!!!

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  21. wooo.its creamy and delicious lavanya...my daughter is a pasta lover..will surly luv this dish...

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  22. I love mushrooms! your pasta looks delish!

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  23. I never can resist mushrooms! Delightful pasta dish.

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  24. I have always made pasta using pasta sauce with tomato+ any italian herb.
    Will try ur version with mushrooms next time

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  25. laavanya, m going to try this one :)

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  26. wow .. love penne pasta ..yummy yummy

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  27. looks rich and creamy! Yes, Pasta has been a saver for me too many times. I use Alfredo pasta sauce, as a quick helper, but never used cream cheese. Sounds delicious, Laavanya!

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  28. that is really creamy one :) . i dotn like anything with much butter, weird not... i know. But your pic looks too delicious that i think i can try it sometime :)

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  29. Thank you all.

    Rajitha, sure try out with other veggies you like. I love chewy textures..

    TBC, I know you have pretty spectacular pasta dishes over at your blog.

    Suma, I hope you give it a shot and your daughter likes it.

    Sumi and Bhawana, hope you get a chance to try this. Let me know how you liked it.

    Thank you Sujatha. The cream cheese adds a slightly tangy touch.

    Thank you Pooja.. this uses about 1/2 tbsp butter but gets creaminess from the cream cheese and whipping cream.

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  30. This is an excellent recipe.. I add some peas to it and sometimes I use goat cheese in place of the cream cheese.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Anon for trying this out and letting me know. I've never tried goat cheese - sounds interesting.

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  31. I make the recipe it was so good my family love it.

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  32. It's a great recipe my family love it.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Josee for trying out this recipe. So glad to hear your family liked it :)

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