Saturday, March 17, 2007

Spinach and fontina pasta sauce

I made this for dinner Thursday night and, since I made the recipe up as I went along, I need to write it down before I forget it because it was AWESOME!!!

I do have to say that hubby didn't particularly care for this because it didn't have any meat in it. Originally, I was going to put some chicken sausage in it, but it tasted so good that I didn't want to screw it up by adding anything else. So take that for what you will...

Spinach and Fontina Pasta Sauce

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons oil (I use canola, but olive would work fine too)
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
8 ounces sliced mushrooms
2 bunches fresh spinach, stems removed, washed and spun to remove excess water
2 1/2 cups milk (I confess I didn't measure this, but I think that's about right)
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
4 ounces cream cheese (1/2 of a block), cut into small pieces
4 ounces fontina cheese (fontina is a mild, white, semi-soft cheese, available just about anywhere (even Winco!))
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons cold water

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter and oil together. Add onion, garlic and mushrooms, and saute until the onion is translucent and the mushrooms are soft, about seven minutes. Add spinach, cover, and let cook until spinach is fully wilted, about five minutes.

Add milk and basil and heat until the milk just starts to bubble. Add cheeses; cook and stir until melted. Add salt and pepper to taste.

In a small dish (I use a custard cup), mix cornstarch and water. Slowly add to the sauce. Cook and stir until thickened. Serve over hot cooked pasta (we had bow ties, just for fun!).

Divine!

1 comment:

MamaZuzi said...

Sounds delicious to me. We'll have to give it a try sometime. Maybe we'll get a better reaction than we did to the pizza made with green squash.