(entree)

I just came up with a good one. Not only tasty, but beautiful to look at (I'll start taking pictures when I get a digital camera). It's not very hard, nor is it extremely time consuming, however it will require four burners on your stove, using two skillets and two pots, and a bit of prep work.

 

INGREDIENTS

* Olive Oil
* 3 Medium, or 2 Large Cloves of Garlic
* 2 Bunches of Fresh Spinach (or 1 Bag)
* Mushrooms (just about any type) - 1 Medium Sized Container
* 1 Large Can of Italian Peeled Tomatoes
* Basil - 6 or 7 fresh leaves if you have them, or a generous sprinkling of dried
*Oregano - 3 large pinches
* Salt, Black Pepper and a Red Pepper Flakes
* Angel Hair Pasta
* Romano Cheese

First prepare everything and this process will go very smoothly and quickly. Chop the garlic, slice the mushrooms, chop the tomatoes into large pieces (no stems or peelings). Also clean and de-stem the spinach. Boil a pot of water for each the pasta and the spinach.

These ingredients will be added to the mixture in the order I have them listed above.

Heat a liberal amount of olive oil in bottom of large skillet, use a low-medium heat setting. Add the sliced garlic - do not let the garlic burn.

Add the tomatoes but don't add much of the tomato juice because this will be a fairly chunky, quick-sauce. Now put in the basil, oregano (be careful with the oregano and be sure to crunch it in your fingers to release the flavor). Now salt and pepper to taste. Add a few red pepper flakes as well. Stir and sautee.

Your pasta should only take a couple minutes to cook if it's angel hair (Capellini) so you want to time everything according to that. It's important that the pasta isn't overcooked. So now........

Sautee the mushrooms in the other skillet with some olive oil. The mushrooms need to be cooked separately because they stay firm and more flavorful when you apply them to the top of the dish at the end.

Cook the spinach in one of the pots with water. The spinach should only cook about as long as the pasta. It should be a very pretty color green when finished.

Be sure to salt the pasta water, then add the capellini.

When the pasta is done put it in a bowl, then ladle the sauce over it. Add the spinach around the edge of the bowl, then mushrooms on top of that.

This dish is so pretty that it's almost a shame to cover it with grated Romano cheese, but you have to.

I promise you, you'll make this dish more than once.