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The following dish is the epitome of what my blog is all about. Simple home cooking that’s nourishing and tastes great. My Pasta with Roasted Mushrooms and Crispy Kale has that in spades! It’s a great weeknight dish that comes together effortlessly and always pleases a hungry crew. Even my meat-eaters look forward to a big bowl of this goodness.
This dish always feels comforting and special even though it’s made with the simplest of ingredients. You see, the pasta, kale and mushrooms take hardly any time (or effort) to cook and I always have some of my Basic Tomato Sauce in the freezer.
Roasting mushrooms (even your run-of-the-mill button variety) brings out their deep, rich flavours. In my opinion, it totally transforms them and is my absolute favorite way to prepare the humble mushie.
Then you have the Crispy Kale component, which is just my Kale Chips sprinkled on top. Kale Chips are great at keeping their crunch for a couple of days if stored in the fridge. So if, like me, you already had some in the fridge from last night’s dinner… then all your doing from scratch is the pasta and the mushrooms. See what I mean? Easy weeknight dinner. 😉
I like to finish the whole thing off with a sprinkling of some roughly chopped walnuts. Not only do they provide an extra hit of protein, but they give the dish a little crunch and taste so good with the sauce and kale.
My Pasta with Roasted Mushrooms and Crispy Kale is definitely worth a try. Give it a go and let me know what you think.
Pasta with Roasted Mushrooms and Crispy Kale
Serves 2
250g uncooked spiral pasta shapes
1 cup Basic Tomato Sauce
2 cups Kale Chips
2 cups button mushrooms
1 tbs olive oil
salt and pepper
1/2 cup walnuts (roughly chopped)
Method:
- Start by cooking your mushrooms. Preheat your oven to 200C (fan-forced). Line an oven tray with baking paper.
- Wipe your mushrooms with some kitchen paper to remove any dirt. Don’t wash them with water – this takes away all their flavour. Slice the mushrooms and spread out evenly over the oven tray.
- Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle over the salt and pepper. Now cook them in the oven for around 15 – 20 minutes or until your mushie are golden in colour and shrunken in size.
- Cook your pasta according to packet instructions.
- While your mushrooms are in the oven and the pasta is cooking, heat up your Basic Tomato Sauce. I like to do this in a small pot on the stove but it works just as well in the microwave if that’s your thing.
- Right before you drain your pasta, reserve a little of the cooking water, around 1/2 a cup should do it.
- Now, drain your pasta, give it a little shake and put it back in the pot you just cooked it in. Add all your Basic Tomato Sauce and give it a stir. If it seems a little dry add some of the pasta water you reserved earlier. Keep adding it until you get the right consistency.
- Now it’s time to plate up! Divide the pasta and sauce between two bowls. Sprinkle over your roasted mushrooms, crispy kale and finally the chopped walnuts. I like to grind some black pepper over the whole thing to finish it off but you don’t have to. Tastes just as good without.
