Pasta with Mushrooms for a Girls Night In

Everybody loves pasta. So do I. It's an easy dish and perfect for a casual evening with friends. I almost always serve pasta whenever I have girlfriends over for an evening of laughter, closet inspection, and wine tasting. It's best to prepare the sauce a couple of hours ahead, cook the pasta at the last minute, and have all the time in between to enjoy the company.

Advance preparation turned out to be very helpful last time I had a friend over. We started by opening a bottle of white wine. By the time I put the pasta on the stove the bottle was gone. Meanwhile, we had spent a couple of hours on gossiping, talking fashion, and a review of the latest sale wardrobe trophies; we had had so much fun, that I do not think I would have been able to cook anything from scratch at that moment. Luckily, all that was left for me to do was to cook the pasta, put the mushrooms on top, and sprinkle some freshly shredded Parmesan on it. That much I could still do.

This pasta is light and delicate in taste as sauteed mushrooms are used instead of sauce. It is simple to make and tastes even better if garnished with a freshly chopped sage.

Sauteed Mushrooms Pasta

Ingredients:
1/2 box of Barilla pasta--for this dish I like to use the Gemelli type,
12oz white mushrooms,
12 oz shiitake mushrooms,
12 oz oyster mushrooms,
6-8 sliced garlic cloves,
2 tbsp of chopped flat leaved parsley,
1 tbsp of chopped sage leaves--optional,
1/2 stick of butter
salt and pepper.

Preparation:
1. Wash mushrooms and cut out stems.
2. Cut mushrooms in thin slices.
3. Melt the butter in a frying pan and fry garlic slices in it until gold.
4. Add all the mushrooms and fry until gold.
5. Season with salt and pepper, add the chopped parsley.
6. Cook pasta al dente (for about 8 minutes).
7. Strain the pasta and serve it on a plate, put the mushrooms on top.
8. Shred fresh Parmesan, decorate with sage and serve with red wine.

We finished our evening late after midnight with a meringues fruit dessert, not very low in calories but quite scrumptious. I am going to publish the recipe shortly.