Pasta With Portobello Mushrooms

I love pasta. I’m like an Italian, I can live on pasta, cheese and some olives. Bobcat too, minus the olives. When you have a picky toddler who’s addicted to pasta you try to make it versatile, healthy and at the same time edible for the entire family. (We got to the point of pasta-love where I don’t even give a damn about the other qualities of a restaurant when eating out with my family, but one item on the children’s menu: pasta with tomato sauce.)

So this one is somewhat sophisticated and enjoyable for adults too. Takes no time, not complicated at all and it makes a lovely midweek dinner. The recipe below serves about 4 adults.

Ingredients:

1 large Romano Sweet Pepper, sliced

1 courgette, halved and sliced

4 large Portobello mushrooms, sliced

3-4 cloves of garlic, sliced finely

Handful of fresh parsley, chopped

3 tbsp olive oil

10-12 cherry tomatoes, halved

4 round tomatoes, skin and seeds removed and chopped

300 g pasta

Parmesan

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Pop the round tomatoes into boiling water for 3 minutes, so that you can remove the skin. Remove the seeds too. Slice everything else, including the garlic. (I like it better when sliced than minced in pasta and Mediterranean dishes. This way they will give you more flavour too.) Heat the olive oil in a large sauce pan or wok and on a medium heat soften the vegetables together with the spices. It will be nice and saucy after about 15-20 minutes. Cook the pasta, drain it and add it to your sauce pan and mix it well with the sauce on low heat. Give it another 5 minutes and it’s ready to serve, just top it with a little Parmesan.