Spaghetti with Mushrooms and Goat Cheese

This is a highly adaptable recipe with so many possibilities that I want to make it again, like, now. You can certainly forego the mushrooms entirely, switch them out for caramelized onions, add in a couple handfuls of spinach, mix in some fresh grated parmesan - they would all work well. Regardless of how you do this, it's a perfectly light, flavorful dinner to pair with a cold glass of white wine on a warm summer night.

I bought organic mushrooms, which I found to actually be of better quality than what I generally get at the grocery store. I cut them fairly wide so that they would be substantial enough to stand up on their own in the dish.

Spaghetti with Mushrooms and Goat Cheese

Ingredients:

1 pkg. spaghetti or other long pasta

1 pkg. cremini mushrooms, sliced

4 oz. herbed goat cheese

1 tsp. lemon zest

3 cloves garlic, minced

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Olive oil

Herbes de provence

Salt, to taste

Pepper, to taste

Basil, for garnish

Method:

1. Begin cooking pasta according to package directions.

2. Saute the garlic in a pan with a bit of olive oil. When garlic becomes aromatic, add the mushrooms and more olive oil as needed. Season mushrooms with salt, pepper and herbes de provence. Cook until soft.

3. In a large bowl, mix the goat cheese, lemon juice, lemon zest and a tablespoon of olive oil. Add the pasta and mushrooms and toss to coat.

Notes: My lemon was particularly juicy and the dish was a little more lemony than I would have liked. I would suggest only adding a bit, tossing the pasta and tasting it to see whether more lemon is desirable. The lemon zest is much more flavorful than the juice, so be careful to not add to much of that either. Roll your lemon on the the counter for a few seconds to make it easier to juice.