Mushroom Pasta Bake

If you like mushrooms, you are going to love this recipe. Another one from Smitten Kitchen…Mushrooms, cheese, pasta….baked until the cheese has melted & the edges are crispy….really….what could be more delicious!

Marsala wine is in this recipe but I didn’t have any so I left it out. Perhaps with it in, the flavour would have been bolder but since we have not had this recipe with marshal in it, we didn’t miss it! Makes sense!

The recipe is pretty simple & straight forward..it did not take long to put together & then was in the oven for about 40 minutes. It could have come out at 35 but I like really crispy edges so I left it in longer.

The recipe is enough for 4 main courses. & we did get about 4 servings without really thinking about it..

Here is the recipe  smitten kitchen mushroom marsala mushroom pasta bake

The only thing I changed is leaving out the marsala wine, so if you want to put that in have a look at the recipe on smittenkitchen.com  of  and I did not have any fresh flat-leaf parsley…

Ingredients

225 grams pasta, I used ziti.  you could use any short pasta that can hold up to the mushrooms…rotini, etc.

2 tbsp olive oil

3/4 pd fresh mushrooms, I used half cremini mushrooms & half white button mushrooms, cleaned & sliced thinly 

1 small onion, sliced very thinly

salt & pepper

3 tbsp unsalted butter *** note… I used this amount of butter but I would cut it down a bit next time..it was really buttery..so I think I would use 2 tbsp next time…your choice

3 tbsp flour

1 1/2 cups vegetable or mushroom broth *** I used Campbell’s mushroom broth…

1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese

1/2 cup mozzarella, cut into small cubes…

Method

preheat oven to 400f

you will need a baking dish… a  4 quart baking dish which is about a 10 x 14 pan.. i used a round glass baking dish.

1. cook the pasta in boiling slated water until al dente..though I cooked mine longer..I like my pasta softer than hard…haha  Drain & set aside
2. You can make the sauce while the pasta is cooking
3. In a skillet that has deep sides…or you can use the pot you cooked the pasta in, add 2 tbsp oil & add the sliced mushrooms. Cook them until they start to brown but have not released any liquid yet.
4. Add the thinly sliced onions, salt & pepper to taste & sauce together until the liquid from the mushrooms has evaporated
5. Add the butter & stir until it melts
6. Next, sprinkle the flour over the mushroom mixture & stir it in well until it disappears
7. Add the stock, a bit at a time, stirring while you add it & make sure that the liquid is well combined with the mushroom mixture before you add more. Continue adding stock until it is all added. Then simmer for about 2 minutes, sir often. The sauce will thicken. Turn off the heat & set the pan aside if your burner remains hot
8. Now, you have to combine the cooked pasta & the sauce. You can do this in a large bowl, or if the sauce is in a pot big enough to add the pasta, use it…I did
9. Add the pasta to the sauce, mix well…add 1/4 cup parmesan & all of the mozerrala. Taste & add salt & pepper if you want…
10. Put all of this into an oven safe baking dish. Then sprinkle the remaining parmesan cheese over the top
11. Put into the pre-heated oven & bake for 34-40 minutes
12. You can sprinkle this with some fresh parsley…I used a bit of dried parsley flakes so it was not all brown 🙂

Enjoy!