In September, my sous chef and I took a trip to Kennett Square, PA to attend Mushroom Fest! While perusing vendors, we stumbled upon a stand run by Pappardelle’s Pasta…and it had pretty much any type of pasta we could think of (along with a bunch we’d never have thought existed). We picked out a pack of Foraged Mushroom and Herb Blend Trumpet Shaped Pasta, and home it came. In the intervening months, we just bided our time, waiting for the right dinner idea to come to us to use the gourmet pasta.
Yesterday, it came to us! We still had a half quart (2 cups) of Goat Milk left from our Goat Milk Corn Chowder, and seeing how goat milk has a wonderful earthiness that we felt would complement the pasta well, we went for it! We even doubled down on the goat products and shredded a wedge of goat gouda as our cheese! Then, we added some veggies to improve the nutritional value of our meal! By the end of dinner, I was told by my food critics (wife and kid) that I am allowed to buy more goat milk in the future!
**The post name isn’t intended to claim that this Mac and Cheese is the greatest of all time. We just capitalized “GOAT” because of how many goat products we included.
Time: 35 Minutes
Ingredients (makes 3 good sized servings):
- 12 Oz Dried Pasta of your Choice. We used Foraged Mushroom Trumpet Pasta.
- Onion
- Garlic
- Mushrooms. We used White Mushrooms, but Cremini would work really well too.
- Fresh Spinach (a few good heaping handfuls)
- 3-4 Tablespoons of Butter
- 1/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
- 8 oz Goat Gouda, shredded…we bought a block and used our food processor shredding attachment to grate.
- 2 Cups of Low Fat Goat Milk
- Black Pepper
- Optional: Crumbled Crispy bacon to sprinkle on top of your dish at the very end.
Method:
- Bring a pot of water with a little salt in it to a boil.
- As your water cooks, dice your onion and garlic, and slice your mushrooms.
- Heat a few tablespoons of butter in a large pot, and when melted, add in your onion and garlic. Stir occasionally as it cooks, and wait for your onion to just begin to caramelize.
- When your water is boiling, pour in your pasta, and cook until soft.
- When your onion has begun to caramelize and turn a light shade of brown along the edges, add in your mushrooms, and sauté for another few minutes.
- When your mushrooms have shrunken and deepened in colour, add and stir in your spinach to wilt.
- As your spinach wilts, add in another tablespoon or two of butter. When the spinach has finished wilting, and your new butter has melted, add your scoop of flour, and stir to fully combine and coat your veggies. Allow to cook for another minute or two.
- Pour your milk over your veggies, and then scoop in your grated cheese, and continue stirring to melt your cheese and thicken your sauce.
- Drain your pasta once it’s ready, and then pour it into your pot with the goaty veggie goodness. Fold to combine, and simmer to your desired level of sauce thickness.
- Plate, devour, and enjoy!
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