This is one of my newest favourite dishes. I often swap light cream for milk making this pasta as light as possible.
Easy, delicious and a total crown pleaser.
Creamy Mushroom Spinach Bake
Servingsservings
Prep timeminutes
Cooking timeminutes
Calorieskcal
Ingredients
4 TBSP unsalted butter, divided
1 lb mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 small onion, diced
4 cups baby spinach
1 red bell pepper, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup flour
2 bouillon cubes
5 cups milk
1 TBSP soy sauce
1 TBSP dried parsley
1/2 tsp of each: mustard, onion and garlic powders
1 tsp of each: dried thyme and oregano
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3/4 cup Parmesan, grated
1 lb Penne, uncooked
- For topping the pasta:
1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese, grated
panko breadcrumbs, sauteed in 1 TBSP olive oil for an optional crunch
Directions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Preheat the oven to 350F.
- In a large heavy bottom pan, melt 2 TBSP butter over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and sauté for 7-10 minutes or so until they release their liquid and become lightly golden brown. Add a pinch of salt, bell pepper, onions, and continue cooking for another 5 minutes or so until onions are softened and translucent.
- To the same pan, add the remaining 2 TBSP butter on medium heat. When the butter is melted, add the flour and cook for a minute or two to cook off the raw taste. Add garlic, cook for 30 seconds or so but do not burn or brown. Add the bouillon cubes and break them up with a spoon. Pour in the milk a little at a time, stirring vigorously. Add spinach and let it wilt (alternatively, spinach could be blanched in hot water for a minute then drained.) You only need to cook the sauce for about 4 minutes until lightly thickened. Season with salt, pepper, add garlic powder, onion powder, all the herbs and mustard. Add soy sauce. Stir in the Parmesan into the sauce. Set the sauce aside.
- Boil the noodles to al dente or just shy of al dente; about 1-2 minutes less than the package instructions. Drain. Reserve pasta cooking liquid. Stir the noodles into the sauce. If needed, add some pasta cooking liquid to think out the sauce, it should be thick, smooth, silky but not soupy. Top with Mozzarella. Bake in preheated 350F oven for about 15-20 minutes until the cheese is melted. You can also top it with the optional panko breadcrumbs. If desired, you can broil the dish for a few minutes to brown the cheese.
