Pasta with mushroom sauce

This simple pasta recipe is very easy to prepare and has plenty of flavors. It is perfect to make when you are in a mood to cook up a continental fare for a dinner party and your guests are vegetarian. That is exactly how I came to think of making this recipe.

 My husband invited a few colleagues from his office for dinner. It was only  much later, after I had chalked out the whole menu, that I came to know that most of the guests were totally vegetarian, who did not even eat eggs. To think up of  vegetarian dishes, without even eggs, while planning a continental menu, always ties me in knots.

After much introspection, I settled for making a vegetarian moussaka, jacket potatoes, hot -pot macaroni, Russian salad, pizza rolls and a Grilled chicken dish. My menu seemed just perfect. The only problem was that most of my dishes seemed to have tomatoes in it and usually I try to  have different flavors in each of my dish.

 I had some mushrooms lying, so I decided to stir fry them with some onions and garlic and then toss in the pasta. Even after doing all this, the dish seemed too dry and bland.Then I remembered, years ago I had learnt this lovely recipe of baby potatoes in mushroom sauce where the sauce was made out of a soup packet. I made some mushroom soup from a packet and added the soup to my pasta. It worked!! The combination was a great hit. It was just what I needed to perk up my dish and add some great flavors to it. 

Try it! It is just the thing to have on a cold winter evening.

 Ingredients

 3 cups cooked pasta of your choice (I used fusili)

2 onions, chopped finely

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp garlic, chopped

100 gm mushrooms, sliced

2 tsp  dried thyme

1 packet knorr mushroom soup

1/4 cup cream

salt to taste

• Method
• Heat oil in a pan. Add the garlic and onions and saute for 2-3 minutes.
• Add the mushrooms and thyme.Saute on high heat for about 5 minutes.
• Toss in the pasta and mix well.
• Add salt to taste.  
• In another pan make the mushroom soup. keep the quantity of water less so that you have the consistency of a thick sauce, so if the packet asks you to put in 4 cups of water add 3 instead.
• Add the prepared soup to the pasta and cook on medium heat for a few minutes.Stir in the cream and turn off the heat.
• Serve hot.