Sunday, June 24, 2012

Fusili with Caramelized Onions and Mushrooms



I needed to get something on the table for the children's dinner. I was heading out. I needed something easy. And relatively fast. And something that I could create using the few items I had in my fridge... I am in serious need of groceries! I had this vision of caramelized onions and pasta.

On Thursday evening I went to meet cookbook author Jenny Rosenstrach and listen to her read excerpts from Dinner a Love Story, her newest cookbook based on her website of the same name. (More on that later.) As I was quickly perusing the recipes and listening to her talk the words caramelized onions kept playing in my mind... It just sounded like such a fabulous combination and why hadn't I thought of it. I didn't have the ingredients, whole wheat pasta, spinach, mentioned in her recipe, so I decided to take the onions and go another route... I wasn't exactly sure what that route would be as I grabbed a large Vidalia from the veggie drawer.

Water, in a pot, a box of fusili on the counter, an onion in one hand and a chef's knife in the other... I started to chop, then tossed the small pieces into a pan, a little olive oil, a little butter... and then watched as the butter and oil blended together and the onions start to become translucent... I searched my spices and decided to add some sweet paprika and some sea salt... the onions turned a pretty red-orange color as they continued to sweat... I needed something else. In the fridge I spied a package of sliced mushrooms and decided to toss them in as well. Mushrooms are hit or miss in this household. They were large enough to be picked out, if necessary. The onions and mushrooms, the sea salt and paprika ... I took a bite before adding the pasta to the mixture... the flavors blended perfectly as they danced on my tongue... the pasta went in... Something else was needed... I poked around the fridge, played a little eeny meeny miney mo with the Parmesan and the Goat cheese. I picked the Parmesan and sprinkled a generous amount on to the pasta, and mixed well... and star was born!

Ingredients
1 lb fusili
1 large vidalia or sweet onion
1 container, mushrooms (I used Baby Bella)
2 tbs butter
2 tbs, approx, olive oil
1+ tsp paprika, or to taste - I prefer more, you may prefer less
Freshly ground sea salt to taste
1/2 cup of shredded Parmesan

Cook pasta per directions on container, meanwhile in a large saute pan add the olive oil and butter over medium high heat, when the butter has melted and blended with the oil add the onions and turn flame down slightly. Add paprika and stir well. Add salt, stir well and taste. When onions begin to get translucent add the mushrooms and cook for about 5 more minutes until mushrooms get nice and soft. Add the pasta and the Parmesan, mix well and serve!


2 comments:

DawnW said...

I made something very similar to this the other night and I got the idea from Pinterest! It's basically your same recipe but add some goat cheese (about 3oz) in and mix in while everything is still hot so that it melts a little. DElish!!!!

Alicia@ eco friendly homemaking said...

Oh this looks amazing!!