Pasta Surprise (Rice & Pasta Dishes)

Member Name: Hanash84

Product:	Rice & Pasta Dishes
Date:	02/08/09 (16 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Pasta meal in 20 , Tastes Great, Comforting, Filling

Disadvantages: Higher calories than other dishes

I eat rice and pasta pretty regularly at the moment, I find it to be quite economical as they both tend to fill you up for little cost.

One of my recent recipes for pasta is quite rich and tasty. I shall call it Pasta Surprise. It costs under £5 for the meal which can feed 4 people.

The ingredients I use are as follows:

Pasta ( However much you wish to eat )
A drizzle of oil for frying
1 small red onion diced ( Could use white if you prefer )
4 large pieces of garlic crushed
1 courgette diced
A handfull of closed cup mushrooms sliced
A sprinkle of grated cheddar cheese (Can vary if you wish)
A 200g tub of half fat creme fraiche (generally costing 80p)
Salt and pepper

One of the reasons I love to make this dish is that it is pretty quick and the sauce and pasta cook in the same time so there is no hanging around waiting for things to cook.

First I put the pasta in a pan to cook.

Then in another pan I put some oil in and gently fry the onions and courgettes and when they start to brown, which takes around 7 - 8 minutes on a low heat I put the mushrooms and garlic in. Once the mushrooms are cooked I remove the pan from the heat.

Next is to get the cooked pasta, which cooks in around 11 minutes, drain it and then season with salt and pepper. I then put the saucepan with the sauce back on the heat (low) add the pasta into the sauce and stir ensuring it is covered, then add the sprinkled cheese in, stirring so it melts , once it is melting add the tub of creme fraiche and stir for around 2 minutes on the head.

Once it is stirred through, it is time to plate up and enjoy the meal.

If you wish to lose some of the calories in the meal, the cheese can be missed out. Also what is great is that you can use any leftover vegetables if you wish, I just generally tend to have courgettes and mushrooms in.

Summary: A great tasting dish :)