Sauceless

This past week, Justin went through our old recipe files and picked out some of his favorites that we hadn’t had in a long time. This was one of them…Farfalle with Mushrooms. I don’t know where the idea came from, but it’s so simple and yummy that I can’t believe I had forgotten about it.

I’m a fan of pasta, with any kind of mix-in, whether it’s a sauce or just some sauteed vegetables. That reminds me of the first dish I remember cooking by myself…my mom let me buy (meaning she bought it for me) a little “Easy Italian” cookbook from the grocery store. I found a dish in there that I wanted to make, something like Pasta with Zucchini and Tomatoes. It called for garlic, and olive oil, and zucchini, and tomatoes, and not much else. I remember the next time we went to the grocery store I made my mom buy me a little tiny bottle of olive oil (I had no idea I could have used regular cooking oil), and some dried minced garlic (we never used fresh garlic at home, so neither of us knew how to use it), and then at home, I made the dish. I was so proud of it, and I thought it tasted sooooo good. I gave a bit to my Dad to try, and he said, “Where’s the sauce?” Up to that point, pasta at our house meant spaghetti and meat sauce, and nothing else. It amazes me how many new foods I’ve tried since then, and how many sauceless pastas we eat.

So anyway, this is a sauceless pasta.

Farfalle with Mushrooms

  • 8 ounces farfalle (bowtie pasta)
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 10 to 12 ounces cremini or white mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to package directions and drain.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a skillet. Add the garlic and saute over low heat just until the garlic begins to turn golden, about 1 minute. Add the mushrooms; cook, stirring occasionally, until they are tender and have released some liquid, 5 to 8 minutes.

Combine the drained pasta with the mushroom mixture. Add the Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper, and toss together. Top each serving with extra Parmesan cheese.

Makes 3 to 4 servings.

Source: poco-cocoa.

4 responses to “Sauceless”

  1. I’m loving it….I may be able to make this one and the kids may even eat it! Win – win!

  2. childhood food memories are a lot of fun to share. it’s often hard to pinpoint that moment that may have sparked one’s interest in something [say cooking] but this looks like the moment for you!

    and simple pasta dishes are the best, always good… pasta is such an omnifood.

  3. It looks good. I haven’t had bowtie noodles for years. That’s too long of loop since.

  4. mmmmm….mushrooms and garlic are sauce enough for me!

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