The Magic of Mushrooms.

After a week by myself (except for the dog, 2 cats and 2 chickens) my family has started to arrive home from their holidays.    Today No. 4 flew in from a wonderful week in Adelaide.  Tomorrow No. 3 and TBG fly in from Hong Kong.   No 3. has been backpacking around Europe for the past 2 months.  It'll be wonderful to see her again.   There'll be lots of excited stories around the dinner table tomorrow night.

Over the past week, with only one to cook for, I thought I'd be tempted to just have lazy dinners like vegemite on toast however I found myself still cooking decent, no-fuss meals.

Mushroom Pasta Sauce

I thought I’d share this simple recipe as it’s a healthy and delicious meal that requires minimal time from you in the kitchen - ideal after a long day at work.   The mushrooms I'd bought at the food festival on Saturday were the inspiration for the choice of meal. Mine is a vegetarian version however for the meat-eaters in your life, you can easily brown some mince with a little garlic in a pan and then stir in the cooked sauce and let it simmer for a short while before pouring over your pasta.

The beautiful mushrooms from Termeil

Mushroom pasta sauce (it’s really a casserole).

Ingredients:

350g mushrooms

425g can peeled tomatoes, chopped

(I used Ardmona Rich & Thick Chopped Tomatoes with basil & garlic)

1 medium onion, sliced

1 tablespoon olive oil (or less for oiling the casserole dish)

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Pepper & salt to taste.

Method:

Lightly oil a casserole dish.

Alternate layers of ingredients.

Cover and cook in a 180 degrees oven for 20-30 minutes.

I topped mine with a tiny bit of shaved parmesan.

Delicious and quite healthy (but be sparing with the oil and parmesan.)

Did I enjoy my week Home Alone?    A week was enough.  I'm used to a busy household.    There's nothing better than the smiles and banter of family.    xxx