Mushroom and spinach pasta recipe

A speedy and simple pasta dish which is really low fat thanks to the cottage cheese.

Cottage cheese might sound like an unlikely addition to mushroom and spinach pasta, but it's quite ingenious. If you put it in a blender for a minute or so, it will break down into a cream sauce, ideal for stirring through pasta. You can use plain, natural cottage cheese, or one with added herbs. This dish is ready almost as quickly as the pasta boils - you only need to stir in the spinach, fried mushrooms and cream cheese. You will need a large pan, as there is a lot of pasta and the spinach leaves take up a lot of space until they wilt down. At 373 calories, it's one of our simple healthy pasta recipes.

Ingredients

• 300g (10oz) pasta spirals
• 250g (8oz) salad spinach
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 250g (8oz) chestnut mushrooms, sliced
• 1 large clove garlic, peeled and crushed
• 250g tub natural cottage cheese
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Put the pasta in a pan of boiling water; cook according to pack directions for 8 mins. Drain, but leave some water clinging to the pasta. Put pasta back in the pan, and quickly stir in the spinach until it wilts.
2. While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a pan and add the mushrooms and garlic. Fry over a medium heat, covered, for 5 mins, then take the lid off and let them brown.
3. Place the cottage cheese in a blender and pulse for 30 seconds. Check consistency and pulse again until smooth. Stir the mushrooms and cottage cheese through the pasta and spinach. Season well.

Top tips for making mushroom and spinach pasta

For an even speedier version, you can use low fat cream cheese instead of blended cottage cheese.

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