Spicy Mushroom Alfredo Pasta: Step-by-Step to My Accidental Masterpiece


Imagine a hungry person, let’s call her Bridgett. Bridgett opens her refrigerator to realize that she has absolutely nothing to eat. I mean, sure… there are items inside Bridgett’s fridge that are technically edible, but none of them seem to complement each other… Okay, okay, I’m going to be honest with you… I’m talking about myself, although my name isn’t Bridgett; it’s Elizabeth. But seriously this happened to me earlier today… So, what did I do? I got out every edible item that looked good and decided to just start cooking. I ended up with a Spicy Mushroom Alfredo Pasta that was actually phenomenal. This is how I did it.

Here are the food players, aka. Ingredients:
12 ounces Wide Egg Noodles, cooked and strained
2 cups grated Parmesan Cheese
3 cloves chopped Garlic
2 cups sliced Baby Bell Mushrooms
1 Orange Bell Pepper, sliced very thin
2 tablespoons Parsley
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 tablespoon Butter
1/2 cup White Wine
1/2 cup Low-Sodium Chicken Broth
1/2 cup Half-and-Half
1/4 cup Heavy Cream
Creole and Cajun Seasoning, to taste 16010652_709702355335_2034659109_o

Here is the Play-by-Play, Step-by-Step, aka. Instructions:
1. Measure out and chop your vegetable ingredients, and grate your cheese. (Cooking Hack: Can you see that yellow bowl in the background of the picture? Thats my “Muck Bowl”. Anything I need to discard goes into my Muck Bowl. It keeps me from having to make 50 trips to the garbage can or compost pile while cooking. I never cook without it.)16010451_709702270505_1884830075_o

2. Heat the butter and olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Once the butter is melted, and starts to slightly bubble, throw in the garlic and stir it around for 30 seconds.16121763_709702340365_31642981_o

3. Add the mushrooms and stir, for 30 seconds.16121647_709703198645_320428880_o-1

4. Add the bell pepper and stir, for 1 minute.15909182_709703203635_1781444940_o-1

5. Now things start getting really fun. Go ahead and pour in the white wine.16121815_709702450145_143452554_o

6. Then add the low-sodium chicken broth.16121622_709702460125_172389071_o

7. Give the mixture a good stir, scraping the bottom of the pan to release all of the awesome taste that is stuck on. (note: make sure you use a utensil that won’t scratch your non-stick skillet). This is where patience and good judgement comes in, because you need to let the mixture heat up and reduce by half, it should take 2-3 minutes.16010642_709702470105_131582517_o

8. Now, to make the sauce actually look like alfredo… add the half-and-half and heavy cream, and let it thicken on the heat for another few minutes. Patience and good judgement.16106786_709702485075_1988060356_o

9. Remove the sauce from the heat and add the parmesan to the mixture… stir, and watch the glory of the cheese melting into your masterpiece. This step is so awesome… I’m adding two photos. 16106239_709702505035_1707323734_o16106261_709702515015_324278215_o

10. Add creole and/or Cajun spices to taste.16106480_709702524995_2107064098_o

11. Now add the pasta directly to the pan, and mix it up.16106601_709702604835_268875642_o

12. Sprinkle the parsley onto the beautiful alfredo sauce/pasta mixture and stir it in.16106523_709702854335_1084459624_o

13. And serve. I grate some extra parmesan cheese, and provide some Red Pepper flakes for sprinkling; my husband adds the flakes to his, I add the parmesan to mine. 16108020_709703004035_471623011_o15992319_709702964115_1783087028_o

Cook Long and Prosper. Love, the Uncustomary Housewife

4 comments on “Spicy Mushroom Alfredo Pasta: Step-by-Step to My Accidental Masterpiece

  1. That looks like the most delicious thing ever! It’s great when you have just the right ingredients. When I’m cooking, I always forget to take photos until it’s too late!

    • Sometimes I come up with something fabulous and then realize that my husband and I have consumed it before any pictures have been taken. But this time I was home alone, so there wasn’t much of a rush. Thank you for reading, and it was, indeed very delicious.

  2. This looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it out for myself!

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