Vegetarian Cheese Spelt Pasta

Yesterday evening, I invented this lovely vegetarian cheesy pasta dish! I had some leftover sheep’s cheese in my fridge.I had to use it up.

It is a medium-soft sheep’s cheese & will look something like this: see 2nd picture above!

Recipe: For 4 persons

Ingredients:

350 gr spelt tagliatelle ( Egg-free & Dairy-Free))

250 gr spinach leaves, cleaned, washed, spun dry

250 gr oyster mushrooms, cleaned, each cut up into 4 pieces

1 fat clove of garlic, peeled & finely chopped

1 shalot, peeled & finely chopped

black pepper

Himalayan pink salt, in a grinder

a fruity extra virgin olive oil

1 piece of Berry medium-soft sheep’s cheese, mine was with rind included 170 gr. Without rind, it was 155 gr, cut up into smaller chunks! Take your cheese 30 minutes before eating your pasta, out of your fridge, for better flavor!!!

Cook your spelt tagliatelle according to your packet instructions. Drain but keep a bit of the cooking water. This surely will be less than 1/4 of the cooking water!!!

Take a non-stick pan & add few drizzles of a fruity extra virgin olive oil. Heat up. When hot, add chopped garlic & shallot. Fry for a few minutes. I added some pink salt & some grins of black pepper.Do not add too much salt because your cheese will be a bit salty too. Add mushrooms & fry until browned & cooked through. Season with some black pepper & a bit of Himalayan pink salt. Set aside & place fitted lid on top.

Take a larger pot & add a few drizzles of oil & heat up. When hot, add spinach leaves & let them wilt & sauté them in the cooking pot. Season with black pepper & a bit of salt. Add spinach to mushroom mix. To this pot, add cooked tagliatelle, mushroom-spinach mix & heat up on medium-heat. Crumble your cheese, bit by bit to the pasta mix. I added a few splashes of that cooking water to the spelt pasta otherwise it will be sticky & you don’t end up with a creamy sauce! I added first half of my cheese & then more & more. Finally, I added it all, minus the rinds!! I added a lot of black pepper & some salt too, depending on how your cheese tastes like! ;) You must taste the cheese, then the spinach & mushrooms!! When it is all creamy & yummy & just right, serve instantly in 2 clean white pasta plates & serve immediately! This is very yummy with a red Pinot Noir wine, like Bourgogne , La Chance au Roy, 2013.

You can also find it here on my blog & see the comments: http://sophiesfoodiefiles.wordpress.com/2015/01/07/vegetarian-cheesy-spelt-pasta/