It was a very cold morning during the last kitchen of the South Arm Multicultural Community Kitchen in 2016. We made a comfort soup to battle the cold.

The soup we made was Salmon and Potato Chowder which I had blogged before here.

For the main dish, we made a Spinach and Mushroom Pasta.

Ingredients

• 12 ounces penne noddles (you can use any type of pasta of your choice)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil or butter
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme)
• 4 cups mixed fresh mushrooms, sliced (oyster, shiitake, cemini, portobello, etc…)
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups milk
• 2 cups fresh spinach, rinsed well & chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh basil or parsley, chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• fresh ground pepper
• grated Parmesan cheese

Source: South Arm Community Kitchen

Serves 4

Instructions

Prep the ingredients.

Cook pasta in a large pot of salted water according to package instruction. Drain, reserving some of the pasta water.

In a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat, cook onion until lightly brown, then add the garlic and cook a little longer.

Add the mushrooms, cook about 8 minutes, stirring often, until the mushrooms begin to brown and their juices begin to run.

Sprinkle with flour and stir about one minute.

Slowly begin to add the milk, and bring to the boil, stirring constantly for about 3 minutes, or until the sauce thickens.

You may add some pasta water to achieve the right consistency of the sauce.

Season with salt, pepper and dried thyme.

Stir in the spinach and parsley and cook until the spinach begins to wilt.

Toss the cooked pasta with the sauce. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.