Sauteed chanterelles and pasta with spinach

[cimorene]

My favorite way to eat pasta is with some form of pesto sauce but my second favorite way (because tomato sauces sometimes don't agree with me and artichoke sauces take a bit more prep) is:

A skillet of sliced mushrooms, sauteed with:

• 1 cube bouillon


• about a tablespoon of basil


• garlic


• about a teaspoon of smoked paprika


• a dash of chili powder


• 2-5 cubes frozen spinach, so... somewhere around a deciliter or ½ cup



Remove from heat and stir in juice of half a lemon (more or less) & a generous handful of fresh shredded or chopped parsley.

Top with parmesan or halved cherry tomatoes.

I make this for around 3 dl of dry fusilli or penne, a quantity of pasta that I can eat all by myself if I'm REALLY REALLY starving, but for a light meal or paired with another dish can be split between me and Wax, or provide a smaller portion of leftovers.

I used to make mushroom and mushroom/spinach pasta sauce with white sauce, then yogurt, then without the lemon juice, but the final addition of the lemon brings back the balance of sourness that I like for the salty and umami, but I like it better than the taste with yogurt. And the parsley makes it even better, but I don't really know why...

Comments

[brownbetty]

Can you buy frozen spinach in cubes, where you are, or is this how you store your leftovers?

[cimorene]

I buy it in cubes! There are a bunch of different brands of frozen cubes here in Finland, so it seems like a System. (I've never bought frozen spinach in the US; I only learned that I love it as an adult.)

They're not actually cubes, but they're not really balls either; they're kind of lozenge shapes, and each one is a couple tablespoons. It's a useful unit, because if it were a solid block you'd have to break it up to add a smaller quantity, and it really makes cooking for one a lot easier, although if I'm making a meal that's intended to last for a few days I usually use the whole packet.