Penne Mushroom Alfredo

Yes you read that right, Penne Mushroom Alfredo. Why penne? Why not penne? Penne is my very favorite kind of pasta. Truth be told, I use to love alfredo, and olive garden sort of ruined that for me, not that it is bad, olive garden has excellent alfredo, I just got tired of being around it so much, and smelling it. Now that I have been gone from there for a good while, I find myself wanting alfredo more so than when I was there. I don't eat it very often though, it is a treat, and isn't something you would eat every day, every now and again is alright though.

I truly love this recipe, and it is one I sort of just threw together with what I had in the refrigerator like usual. Chris and I had an awesome mushroom alfredo ravioli at maggianos before he left, so that was my inspiration. 

I diced onions, mushroom, and garlic, and sauteed those in some butter, until tender and caramelized. Once caramelized, I just turned them down to low heat and left them alone. I seasoned them with pepper, and no salt, because I wanted to make sure this wasn't going to be over salted, as I will be adding Parmesan to the sauce which is pretty salty.

For the sauce, I melted a bit of butter, and added flour to make a roux, don't cook too long, just until you get a slightly thick consistency, I made a white roux which is the easiest and takes the least amount of cook time, this one is good for keeping white sauces white and beautiful, though I could have made a blonde which is a bit of a deeper flavor than whites. I could have made this in retrospect because the mushrooms changed the tone of my sauce.

After making the roux I whisked in 1/2/ cup heavy cream until it thickened, I then added some almond milt to it, to thin it out because it was a bit too thick for me. After this I added in 1/4 cup of sherry wine (this gives the flavor such depth!) and then brought it to a boil, and reduced to a simmer, I allowed it to simmer for about 15 minutes, and then tossed in the sauteed mushrooms, onions, and garlic. At this point I added some Parmesan cheese.  I probably added about 1/8th a cup, gave it a taste, and then seasoned it a bit more with salt and pepper.

I boiled some vegetable penne, and just served the sauce on top of the pasta, and served with some additional Parmesan over the top.