Pasta with a Creamy Mushroom Sauce

I made this tonight for supper and oh.my.goodness was it good. The recipe is one I made up, but I'm sure there are a million like it. I'll get as close as I can to actual measurements. The directions look kinda complicated but basically this is a white sauce with mushrooms braised in white wine. Pretty simple. The sauce took 1/3 the time of the pasta to cook!

Boil your favorite pasta al dente.

Sauce:
slice 16 oz mushrooms (we used baby bella's)
saute in 2 or 3 cloves crushed garlic and olive oil for 2 or 3 minutes

add:
1/3 c dry white wine (you could add water if you don't have any wine but you'd be missing out!)
1 tsp dried thyme
salt & pepper to taste
cook for 5 -7 minutes on med-high til mushrooms are soft.

In a separate saucepan on med high, melt:
2 Tbs butter, when melted add
2 Tbs flour

Whisk together til smooth. Cook for 2 minutes on high, stirring constantly.

while whisking, add:
1 1/2 -2 c milk or cream (this measurement is a guess, basically you are thinning the sauce to the consistency you like)

When smooth, add:
braised mushrooms
1/4 c parmesan cheese (optional but yummers!)
adjust seasoning and sauce consistency. If sauce is too thick add a touch more cream/milk/wine/water. If it's too thin, cook it a little longer or add a teaspoon of flour to thicken.

Serve sauce over pasta!

Linsey's Green Pasta Sauce

OK, so I've sorta worked out a loose recipe for this (which Linsey had at playgroup last week). We've eaten it twice in the past week with different greens and it's a big hit even with Jim who is honestly the least likely to eat spinach of all of us!

(note: all measurements are loose so feel free to fiddle with it)
combine in blender (or my new favorite toy: Magic Bullet):
1 Tbs Tahini
2 Tbs. water
2-3 cloves fresh garlic
2 Tbs parmesan
blend til smooth

Add 2-3 c. of fresh soft greens (chard w/out the spines, spinach arugula or a combo thereof) and blend til it's a smooth sauce. You might need to add a bit more water so your blender works. This makes about 3/4 c. sauce which I toss with noodles and serve.

This makes more than enough to cover a pound of spaghetti.

Super-Fast Pesto Lasagna

I don't know where I got this one from, but we make it quite often. It was the last meal I had before Zoe was born, so it has a special place in my heart. It's very easy as-is since it uses lots of prepared foods, but you could certainly substitute for fresh/homemade ingredients. You could throw in more vegetables, or use less cheese, or whatever. I don't think you can mess up lasagna!

3 c. ricotta cheese

1 c. shredded Parmesan cheese

1 large egg

2 10-ounce packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry

1 7-ounce package prepared pesto

4 c. bottled chunky pasta sauce

12 no-boil lasagna noodles from one 8-ounce package

2 c. grated Fontina or mozzarella cheese

Blend ricotta and parmesan in medium bowl. Season cheeses with salt and pepper; stir in egg. Blend spinach and pesto in another medium bowl.

Brush 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish with oil. Spread 1 cup pasta sauce in prepared dish. Arrange 3 noodles side by side atop sauce. Spread 1 and 1/4 cups cheese mixture over in thin layer. Drop 1/3 of spinach mixture over by spoonfuls. Repeat layering with sauce, noodles, cheese mixture and spinach mixture 2 more times. Top with remaining 3 noodles and 1 cup sauce. Cover lasagna with foil. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead and refrigerated.)

Preheat oven to 350. Bake lasagna, covered, 35 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with Fontina cheese. Bake until lasagna is heated through, sauce bubbles and cheese on top is melted, about 15 minutes longer. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.