Pasta Shells With Portabella Mushrooms and Boursin Sauce

Submitted by Bakabeth

"This is one of my all time favorite pasta dishes. It came from one of my mom's old cookbooks, although I have made a couple tweaks here and there over the years. I know Boursin is a little more expensive but if you can help it, don't use the inexpensive imitation brands. The sauce just won't come out right. I have used the low fat Boursin and it works fine. In a pinch, the alouette brand will work, or you can try subbing goat cheese made with garlic and herbs. For a really big meal, add in some chicken, either grilled, rotisserie or just leftover! As a note, this isn't the best dish to reheat so keep that in mind."

 

• Ready In: 35mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 14.79 ml butter
• 14.79 ml olive oil
• 453.59 g portabella mushroom, stems removed, caps halved and then cut into 1/4-inch slices
• 2.46 ml salt
• 1.23 ml pepper
• 59.14 ml white wine
• 4.92 ml minced garlic (from a jar works)
• 295.73 ml chicken broth (preferably low-sodium)
• 155.92 g pepper boursin cheese (garlic and herb also works if pepper is unavailable)
• 453.59 g asparagus (broccoli or sugar snap peas are also good choices)
• 340.19 g medium pasta shell
• grated parmesan cheese, to taste

directions

1. Snap the tough ends off the asparagus and discard them. Cut the spears into 1/2 inch pieces.
2. Melt butter with the oil over medium heat in a large frying pan.
3. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally until the mushrooms are tender and well browned, about 6 minutes. Add salt, pepper and garlic. Stir and reduce heat to medium/medium low.
4. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, heat chicken broth. Once lightly boiling, add in Boursin cheese and white wine, stirring with a fork to help melt cheese. Lower heat and simmer to thicken. If not using pepper Boursin, add 1/4 tsp black pepper. Once the cheese is fully incorporated to the liquids, add sauce to mushrooms, stir and simmer.
5. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta until almost done, about 6 minutes.
6. Add the asparagus and cook until it and the pasta are just done, about 3-4 minutes longer. (If using broccoli add with 2 minutes left to go, snap peas about 1 1/2 min).
7. Drain the pasta. Toss with the mushrooms and sauce. Season to taste.
8. Serve with Parmesan cheese on side. Enjoy!

Reviews

[Jen M]

Delish! I omitted the asparagus (because I didn't have any) and used 1.5 lbs of mushrooms instead. I also used penne rather than shells, which worked well. Rather than dirtying another pan, I pushed the mushrooms to the side, and whisked the broth and cheese together in the same pan. I found the sauce to be a bit thin, so I added the pasta to the sauce while it was still al dente and simmered for a few minutes to allow the pasta to absorb some of the liquid.

 

[GibbyLou]

This was a great quick and tasty dinner for us tonight. I probably had it on the table in 30 minutes. I used pre-sliced baby bella mushrooms, green beans, and pepper boursin. I did have to cook the pasta and bean mixture about 6 minutes to get the beans to a medium crunchy texture. Thanks for posting!

 

[cyndiconwaybooth]

My husband and I really enjoyed this recipe. We used cremini mushrooms instead of the portabella mushrooms. This was super easy to make and we will definitely make it again soon. Thanks for posting!

 

[pjmatheis]

This was delic...added 4 hot italian sausage taken out of the caseing and chopped to spice it up...wow

 

[breezermom]

Delicious! Loved the portabella mushrooms and boursin cheese. I could only find garlic and herb, and this still turned out great....I added black pepper. This is so quick and easy to throw together after work, it should be a mainstay in every kitchen! Thanks for sharing. Made for PAC Spring 2011.