Shrooms and Radiators

In a previous post, I mentioned how I ended up with many pounds of excess rigatoni. One evening when I was sitting in front of the television, I started looking for recipes that used rigatoni to try to use it all up. There were so many that were similar, that I really stretched to find those that weren’t just red sauce and cheese. As a result, I ended up with quite a few recipes.

Over months I made those recipes and slowly but surely the rigatoni was used up. Unfortunately the supply of recipes had not likewise been exhausted, so when I went to make this dish, the rigatoni cupboard was bare. Luckily I had a partial box of radiatore pasta (named because they look like little radiators) in my pantry. In retrospect, I think it was a better choice.

Mushroom Rigatoni Bake

This was an earthy, savory dish. So delicious!

I used both a mushroom mix that contained a wide variety of shroom types and some medium-sized Portobello.

Cook the pasta and the shallots.

Slice the shrooms and sauté.

Making the sauce.

Throw it all in a baking dish and cover with cheese for the oven.

Out of the oven.

I am going to make this again and again.

Mushroom Rigatoni Bake

prep 4 servings ∙ source M.myrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS

• 16 ounces uncooked gigli or radiatore pasta

• 4 teaspoons butter

• 1/2 cup sliced shallots

• 16 ounces sliced shiitake mushroom caps

• 8 ounces sliced cremini mushrooms

• 2 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 6 garlic cloves, minced

• 2 tablespoon dry sherry

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

• 4 cups 2% reduced-fat milk

• 2 cup (4 ounces) grated Asiago cheese, divided

• Cooking spray

• Thyme sprigs (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375°.

Cook pasta according to the package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain well. Set cooked pasta aside.

Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots; sauté 3 minutes. Add mushrooms, thyme, salt, pepper, and garlic; sauté 8 minutes or until mushrooms are tender. Add sherry; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.

Place flour in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat; gradually add milk, stirring constantly with a whisk. Bring mixture to a boil; cook 1 minute or until slightly thick, stirring constantly with a whisk. Remove from heat; add 1/2 cheese, stirring until melted. Add pasta and mushroom mixture to cheese mixture, tossing well to combine. Spoon pasta mixture into an 8-inch square baking dish lightly coated with cooking spray; sprinkle evenly with remaining 1/2 cheese. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until cheese melts and begins to brown. Garnish with thyme sprigs, if desired.

NUTRITIONAL INFO

474 calories 30 % caloriesfromfat 16 g fat 8 g satfat 4.6 g monofat 2.2 g polyfat 21.8 g protein 61.4 g carbohydrate 3.3 g fiber 40 mg cholesterol 3.9 mg iron 745 mg sodium 386 mg calcium