Fettucine with Spinach Mushroom Alfredo

If there's one thing I hate, it's unused white sauce, aka. bechamel.

Sure, call me weird. But when you go through the time and effort to whip up a tasty bechamel, it just pains me to throw it away if it's not all used. Such was the case with the lasagna I whipped up last week. I've gotten into the habit of making a white sauce for lasagna here of late instead of using just ricotta, and it's been met with rave reviews... even from The Boy, who was a reluctant comer to the joys of layered pasta dishes until recently.

But I digress. Back to the sauce. Which was sitting in my fridge, all kinds of lonely. Looking for love in all the wrong places (I warned it against trying to make friends in the meat drawer.)

So, working the late shift this week gave me the chance to cook on a Tuesday night, which is normally Holy-Crap-We-Just-Had-Taekwondo-And-Gymnastics-Let's-Just-Eat-Out Night. It felt like a good night for pasta... but then again, aren't all nights good for pasta?

Here's what I came up with!

First, thaw out a frozen package of chopped spinach. Using a clean dish towel or paper towels, squeeze and wring all the liquid as possible from it.

Get the fettucine going in another pot.

Heat up some olive oil - a couple-three tablespoons or so - in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Smash up a couple of cloves of garlic and throw it in there for a minute or two until it looks all golden-y, but not burnt. Burned garlic = massive stink and even worse taste. If you burn it, start over.

Add the chopped spinach in with the garlic and saute it for 4-5 minutes, until it's all heated through and smelling yummy. At this point, pour in your white sauce and mix it up well. You may have to add some milk, cream, half and half or  goat's milk or pasta water to thin it out a bit. Also, if you're feeling spunky, feel free to add in any of the following: ricotta, parmesan, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper - anything that suits your tastes! Let this get all hot and bubbly, then turn it down to a low simmer and let it get all happy.

While the sauce is getting down with its bad self, heat up a few Tbsps of olive oil in another saute pan. Add in a package of sliced mushrooms and another few cloves of smashed garlic and saute them for a couple of minutes. At this point, add about 1/4 - 1/2 C. of white wine, along with a small palmful of thyme, basil & parsley and a splash of Worchestershire sauce and let that all cook down for 3-4 more minutes.

At this point, everything should be bubbly and happy and ready to go. Drain your pasta and toss it with your sauce. (I like to mix the mushrooms right in, but my lovely missus prefers them on the side.) Grate a little fresh romano or parmesan on it, and top with some finely diced tomatoes. (And yeah, since I'm totally using a stock photo - sue me, I was too busy gobbling this down to snap a picture! - that's not shown here.)

Enjoy!