Traditionally, creamy pasta dishes tend to add butter and cream , however this version is dairy free and uses soya cream in place of dairy cream. Soya cream is much lower in both overall fat and saturated fat than dairy cream containing 10.2g of fat per 100ml vs 38g of fat for dairy cream and 1.2g of saturated fat per 100ml instead of 25g with regular cream (for the brands I compared). It also contains only approximately one third of the calories, with 122 kcals per 100ml compared to 361 kcals. It still gives the pasta a lovely creamy overall flavour.
If you are a fan of mushrooms, you can really take this dish to the next level with a variety of your favourite types. Supermarkets these days often stock a variety of mushrooms and not just the white button ones that we are most using to seeing on the shelves. Artisan food stores with fresh produce often have a more diverse variety of mushroom types that you don’t see as often in your local supermarket. I am personally a big fan of shiitake mushrooms (available in many supermarkets), and trying some of the other varieties more readily available in artisan food shops. The latter tend to be expensive so I usually mix these in with supermarket bought varieties.
200g of spinach looks like a lot, however this will will down to nothing when its on the heat for a few minutes, and can be added gradually if you can’t fit everything in the pot at once. This dish is a great way of getting a serving of green leafy vegetables into your daily diet.
As always, we go with the wholewheat variety of the pasta, since whole grains are more nutritious than refined grains and contain more fibre, and other nutrients. This dish will of course also work fine with regular spaghetti pasta.
Some fresh parsley finishes off this dish nicely if you have it on hand but is not essential. Some fresh chili is included as optional if you like a bit of heat in your dishes but its really a personal preference.
If you really want to finish it off and spoil yourself, a sprinkle of Almond Parmesan Topping on top will be lovely. And for me, a little black pepper too.
Creamy Mushroom and Spinach Pasta
Ingredients
- 500 grams mushrooms of choice
- 400 grams whole grain spaghetti pasta
- 250 ml of soya cream
- 200 grams fresh baby spinach leaves
- 1 onion
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 small bunch of fresh parsley optional
- some fresh chili pepper optional
- salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Get the spaghetti into a pot of hot water and cooking according to package instructions
- Peel and chop the onion, and peel and finely chop the garlic. Add a tablespoon of olive oil to a pot on a medium/high heat and add the onion and garlic. Stir regularly for a few minutes.
- Add the mushrooms and continue to stir regularly on a medium high heat. After a few minutes the mushrooms will start to release water as they cook. Once this starts to happen, turn down to a medium heat and leave to simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes, until mushrooms are nice and soft.
- Add the spinach. This may need to be done gradually, giving a stir each time so that the spinach starts to wilt and reduce in volume, if the pot is not big enough to add all at once.
- Once all of the spinach has fully wilted, remove the pot from the heat and stir in the soya cream.
- Add some fresh chopped parsley and some fresh chopped chili (if you like a bit of heat)
- Combine with the cooked spaghetti
- Season with salt and cracked black pepper to taste, and serve
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