For the Pasta You'll Need: 16 oz spaghetti pasta, 3 quarts boiling water, 2 tsp salt, 2 Tbsp olive oil
For the Sauce You'll Need: 4 Tbsp butter (portion halved), 1/2 of a small white onion (thinly sliced), 3 oz pancetta (thinly sliced or cubed), 1/2 cup whiskey, 1/2 cup chicken stock (low sodium), 3 garlic cloves (finely diced), 12 medium mushrooms (sliced), 4 cups fresh and organic spinach, 1 cup crumbled feta cheese, 8-16 fresh basil leaves (thinly cut into confetti strips)
How to Prepare the Pasta: Add salt to boiling water. Add pasta to boiling water and stir. Cook 10-12 minutes (or as per package instructions). Strain pasta (do not rinse with water). Drizzle olive oil and additional salt and pepper to taste. Mix all together well with tongs and set aside.
How to Prepare Sauce: In a large saute pan on medium-high heat add 2 Tbsp of the butter, onion and pancetta and stir occasionally for 3-5 minutes (until onions are tender). Add the whiskey, chicken stock, garlic, mushrooms and additional 2 Tbsp butter to the saute pan. Stir everything together well. Reduce heat to medium-low and cover with a lid for 7-10 minutes. Sauce will reduce and mushrooms will soften. Note, if sauce has reduced too much, stir in a splash more of stock. Add salt and pepper to taste if desired.
How to Plate: On each serving plate, evenly lay out a bed of spinach. With tongs, plate the pasta in a circular motion atop the spinach. Spoon in sauce atop the pasta. Sprinkle cheese and basil atop the sauce. A glass of pinot grigio would pair nicely with this light sauce. Cheers.
Note, if you are a vegetarian, use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock. Instead of pancetta, use additional mushrooms or replace with an alternate vegetable (maybe small cubed zucchini).
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