Giant Penne Pasta w/ Mushroom Sauce

 YOU NEED

250 grams of large penne pasta (dry)

1 teaspoon salt for the pasta water

2 large cloves garlic

1/2 large brown onion, peeled and finely diced

4 cups of swiss brown mushrooms, sliced (stalks and all)

1/3 cup of dry white wine

1.5 cups of rice milk

1 teaspoon of porcini powder (optional but amazing)

1 teaspoon cornflour

1 teaspoon of fresh rosemary, chopped

2 cups asparagus, sliced (be sure to cut the woody ends off)

oil

salt/pepper to taste

 

YOU DO

Place a large pot of water and a teaspoon of salt on stove top and bring to the boil.

Heat some oil in a pan. Throw in the onion and garlic and cook till the onion is caramelised.

Add a little more oil to the pan and add the mushrooms. Sauté on a medium heat until soft and nicely browned. This is where a lot of your flavour is going to come from, so don’t get impatient and rush this part.

Add the white wine and deglaze the pan.

Add the rice milk and porcini powder to the mushroom mix and simmer gently.

In a small separate container mix the cornflour with enough water to combine to a watery consistency and stir till free of lumps. Add the cornflour mixture slowly to the mushroom mix, until you achieve required consistency. The sauce should coat the back of a spoon. Continue to gently simmer for another minute or so.

Add the asparagus and rosemary. Mix through and check the seasoning. If you need to, add salt and pepper to taste.

Cook pasta in boiling water till al dente. Strain the pasta once it is cooked and add it to the mushroom sauce and combine.

#Optional ~ If you want some “cheesiness”, add a tablespoon of nutritional yeast flakes and stir through before serving.

 

Yields: Serves 2