A Simple Pasta Recipe With Mushrooms And Rocket 

What better than a simple pasta recipe that can be made as quickly as it takes to cook the pasta? This one fits the bill perfectly. A wonderfully fast, healthy and low calorie pasta recipe. An average serving contains about 400 calories.

This dish will serve two people.

Ingredients

60g/2oz/1 cup of fresh breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
225g/8oz of mushrooms, sliced
Salt and pepper
100g/4oz of arugula or rocket (it’s the same thing), roughly shredded
160g/6oz tagliatelle

Method

1. Heat a frying pan or skillet over a medium heat. Add the breadcrumbs and fry without oil, stirring regularly, for 3-4 minutes until they are golden and crispy. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

2. Cook the tagliatelle according to the instructions on the packet until just al dente.

3. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in the pan and then add the garlic and mushrooms. Fry over a medium heat until soft.  When the mushrooms are cooked, season them well with salt and pepper. It’s best to wait until the mushrooms are finished cooking before adding the salt and pepper.  Salt tends to draw the juices out of the mushrooms, leaving you with rubbery mushrooms and a pool of liquid in the pan.

4. Now stir in the arugula (rocket) and cooked pasta. Sprinkle over the breadcrumbs and serve immediately.

Why the breadcrumbs in this recipe?  In some parts of Italy, particularly in the South, fried breadcrumbs were traditionally served as a 'poor man's' simple alternative to parmesan sprinkled on pasta. Luckily they are delicious and make a great ingredient in their own right in many simple pasta recipes. Great too if you are looking for a low cholesterol choice. Try this recipe with parmesan instead if you feel like a variation.

 

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