Marinara Pasta with Cream Sauce

(See an improved version of this recipe here)

As I mentioned before, I have quite some cream available, bought at cheap price. Cooked cream chicken casserole yesterday and today's menu is cream marinara pasta.

I buy raw marinara mix from Woolies whenever they are on sale. I'd pay at most A$10/kg. Having said that, the marinara mix at Coles is lesser in quantity but definitely more pumped on their mix of seafood. The size of each piece of salmon, basa, mussels, prawn, squid, etc is larger but they are generally more expensive. For the same price you may pay, you get lesser number of pieces of seafood but bigger pieces. I am happy enough having my Woolies version. 500g feeds about 4 people.

My own made-up recipe

500g marinara mix

1 handful or more of frozen peas

5-6 button mushrooms, sliced

400ml thickened cream (use the light version if you prefer)

1/3 cup white wine or chicken stock

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

300g angel's hair pasta (or any ribbon pasta you like)

dash of dried parsley (or fresh parsley if you have)

salt and pepper to taste

grated parmesan cheese (Coles brand along dried pasta section, about A$1.73 for a 100g pack)

Cook pasta as per packet instructions.

In the meantime, heat up fry pan. When it is hot, add olive oil and garlic. Add mushrooms and peas and cook for 1 minute. Add wine/stock and cream and cook for another minute, stirring. Add seafood and dried parsley. Cook for about 2-3 minutes or until seafood is cooked and let sauce come to a simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour sauce over cooked pasta on a plate. Top with 1 tbsp of parmesan cheese (and a dash of lemon juice if you like).

Tonight, I also prepared some microwaved zucchini and carrots as sides (did not add any salt nor seasoning) and a couple of fresh cherry tomatoes from our garden ;)