Creamy Veggie Pasta

Creamy Veggie Pasta

My wife found this recipe at Momsdish.com but I adjusted it here and made some revisions to suit our taste. First off, the original recipe called for twice as much pasta and half as many vegetables. For us, we are trying to get away from all the pasta and carbs, so we cut the pasta in half and doubled the vegetables, and we even cut some of the cream and cheese. This is still rich enough, and not by any means a low calorie dish, but it really does not need that heavy either, as the focus is the summer vegetables. Its easy and can come together in less than a half hour.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 cloves garlic, shredded
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced thin
• 16 ounces and/or 1lb of broccoli
• 1 cup light cream
• 8 ounces cavatapi pasta (penne rigate works as well)
• 2/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

METHOD

1. Cook the pasta with 1 teaspoon sea salt added to the water
2. In a wide pan gently melt 2 tablespoons butter
3. Add the sliced mushrooms with 1/4 teaspoon of salt, cook until soft, about 5-10 minutes
4. Add the garlic, onion and pepper with another 1/4 teaspoon of salt and cook another 5-10 minutes
5. Add the cream, bring back to a simmer and then add broccoli
6. Once the pasta is cooked mostly through (about 3/4 or 75% of the way), drain and add to the pan of vegetables
7. Mix well, add in the grated cheese slowly, a little at a time, mix until everything is coated.