Portobello Penne Pasta Casserole

I had a completely different vegetarian dish slotted for tonight's meal. I checked out some vegetarian cookbooks at the library and I had a different recipe for portobello pasta marked to try for dinner. Well, I realized I did not purchase everything I needed for the cookbook recipe at the grocery store today. Ugh. I don't have anything thawed to switch up my menu, so I am stuck making something with portobello mushrooms (hardly a hardship, I know). What to do???? Steal an idea from Claire, of course! Seriously, my dinner plans would be really boring most of the time if I could not draft off of Claire's ideas. Hooray Claire. She mentioned that her family liked this recipe when we were talking about mushrooms earlier today. It seems easy and it looks like I have everything on hand to make it. Her blog notes indicate that it was a keeper, so I thought I would give it a try, too. I will let you know how it goes!

Portobello Penne Pasta Casserole

Ingredients:
1 (8 ounce) package uncooked penne pasta
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 pound portobello mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/2 cup margarine
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
2 cups milk
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1/4 cup soy sauce

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Place pasta in the pot, cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until al dente, and drain.
3. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the mushrooms, cook 1 minute, and set aside. Melt margarine in the saucepan. Mix in flour, garlic, and basil. Gradually mix in milk until thickened. Stir in 1 cup cheese until melted. Remove saucepan from heat, and mix in cooked pasta, mushrooms, spinach, and soy sauce. Transfer to the prepared baking dish, and top with remaining cheese.
4. Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until bubbly and lightly brown.

Jen's Notes:
I don't have margarine, so butter will have to work. I think I will just serve this with a side salad. Yum. It sounds really good!





The Result:
This was fantastic. Soooooo yummy and a total keeper! Easy and delicious. I am too tired for witty commentary, so I will just leave it at that. Thanks again, Claire!