Creamy pasta with a spicy pungent flavor.
Best served with a bold red wine or a dark ale.
Serves four.
Mustard must be added to taste, I find the acidity to be the limiting factor, rather than its pungency, but if your mustard is very strong, you may need to use less and add a touch of vinegar.
- 400 g dried fettuccine or other wide pasta, or better, an equivalent amount of fresh egg pasta
- 250-300 champignon or other mushrooms, sliced thinly
- 3 tsp butter
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- A small amount of chili
- 400g spinach leaves, stems removed, cut into ribbons
- Apx 1/4 cup half and half, or a bit less full fat cream
- 4-8 tsp Dijon mustard (add to taste), you can include some grainy mustard if you have it at hand
- Optional: 1 tsp nutritional yeast or a touch of MSG, if you like using it
- Optional: 1/2 to 1.5 tsp honey or dark brown sugar
- Salt to taste
- A generous grating of nutmeg
- Plenty of black pepper
- Cook mushrooms with some of the butter over high heat until lightly browned. Set aside.
- Add more of the butter and fry the onion until golden.
- Add remaining butter, garlic and chili. Fry briefly until aromatic.
- Cook the pasta very al dente. Drain well.
- Add it along with the mushroom, spinach and cream.
- Heat over low flame, until the spinach is wilting.
- Add mustard to taste, optional nutritional yeast or msg, optional honey or sugar, salt. All to taste.
- Add vinegar only if needed, add nutmeg.
- Plate and grind pepper on top.
