Wednesday, May 04, 2011

20 Minute Pasta

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Twenty minutes start to finish, the easiest (and tastiest) pasta dish to prepare on a weeknight when you have zero time to spare. The quality of the ingredients really play an important role in the freshness (and taste) of this dish, the fresher the better. I used a good quality California made olive oil, fresh from market cherry tomatoes and mushrooms. Lots of flavor, not a lot of time.
Serves 4
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The key players are:

- 1 package of spaghetti (cooked & drained)
- 1 stick of unsalted butter
- 3 to 4 basil leaves (chopped)
- 1/4 cup of Italian parsley (chopped)
- 1/4 cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 6 baby bella mushrooms (sliced)
- 1/2 a large onion (diced)
- 2 garlic cloves (minced)
- 1 1/2 cups of cherry tomatoes (about 17)
- 4 Sundried tomatoes (sliced)

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Here's a look at the local olive oil I picked up last Sunday from the under the freeway Farmer's Market. Very tasty and I just loved that the old couple working the booth were Italian! The wife was so sweet, I just couldn't resist picking up their balsamic vinegar too, yum!

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Heat the olive oil and butter in a pan on medium/high heat. A secret I heard on the food network years ago, anytime you're using butter add a bit of olive oil to the mix, it'll help keep the butter from burning while adding another dimension of flavor at the same time.

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Add in the onion, basil, garlic and parsley, cook the ingredients for two minutes.

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Add in the mushrooms, stir and continue to cook.

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Once the mushrooms have softened add in the cherry and sundried tomatoes. Cook until the tomatoes blister, about 10 minutes.

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Using the back of a large spoon, crush some of the cherry tomatoes creating a tomato butter sauce (yum!).
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Add in the cooked spaghetti and toss well. Remove pasta from heat, top with freshly shaved Parmesan cheese and serve. Quick, easy and yummy!

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