One-Pot Garlic Parmesan Pasta with Spinach and Mushrooms (Recipe 111 of 125)

Sooo, here's an interesting twist. I swear when I first read this recipe it called for chicken. As I cooked the dish, I swear it said to saute the chicken. Now as I type this, I see there's no chicken in the recipe. I think I just went on autopilot for cooking a meal that is so familiar to me that I seem to know it by heart. 

This recipe is very similar to a lot of the chicken, cream, mushroom recipes I've made in the past. 

At any rate, this was a good dish. I got carried away with the red pepper flakes and WOW was it spicy. I cut the recipe in half and for some reason did not cut the Italian seasoning or red pepper flakes in half.  

I left the spinach out because I am not a fan of spinach that's been cooked. I had it in a salad on the side instead. 

Watch how you salt this too. It takes 1/2 c of parmesan cheese and that has a lot of salt in it. Salt after you add that instead of before. 

One-Pot Garlic Parmesan Pasta with Spinach and Mushrooms
Recipe from EatWell 101

Serves 4

• 14 oz farfalle pasta
• 3 T olive oil
• 2 medium onions, sliced
• 3 or 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 14 oz mushrooms, sliced
• 10 oz fresh spinach
• 1/2 c ow-sodium vegetable broth
• Fresh cracked pepper, to taste
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/2 c parmesan cheese, grated
• 1/2 c heavy whipping cream
• 1 tsp red chili pepper flakes, optional

JW Note: I added 2 chicken breasts cut into 1/2" pieces. I sautéed them after the mushrooms. Then put the mushrooms, onions and chicken in one pot and went from there.

Cook the pasta in salted water until al dente, according to the package instructions.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and saute for 2-3 minutes until translucent and slightly browned. Remove from the skillet and transfer to a plate.

In the same skillet, add the mushrooms and sauté for about 3 minutes until browned. Add a bit of oil if necessary. Remove mushrooms to the plate with onion and set aside.

In the same skillet, add the spinach and cook for 2 minutes until just wilted. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Remove spinach and drain excess water. Transfer to another plate.

Still in the same skillet, heat a little oil, add the chopped garlic and cook for about 30 seconds, then deglaze with vegetable broth. Add cream, grated parmesan, chili pepper flakes, and Italian seasoning and cook for 2 minutes, stirring until combined and the cream gets some color.

Once the pasta is ready, add mushrooms, onion, and spinach back to the skillet, then put drained pasta and toss to combine. Add more parmesan and Italian seasoning and give a quick stir. Serve the creamy parmesan spinach mushroom pasta with red chili pepper flakes and more parmesan, if you like. Enjoy!