Portabello Fettuccine with Spinach Pesto, Roasted Peppers & Romano Cheese

My exams are finally over! I'm free for the summer to bake lots of yummy things and balance them out with many other healthy things. And to have the freedom to read food blogs again! Thank you everyone who wished me luck with my finals. :)

This recipe has a lot of parts to it and might seem a bit complicated, but it's not too bad and it's definitely worth it! To quote what I wrote on the page for this recipe in the cookbook, "sosososoSO good!! perfect. make all the time! yum etc!! truly spectacular". As you can see, I really fell in love with this pasta dish and I plan to make it many more times. Though it's not the healthiest, at least it involves a variety of vegetables! I tried to organize the recipe as best I could (because it comes from several pages in the cookbook) but if it's confusing, let me know.

Portabello Fettuccine with Spinach Pesto, Roasted Peppers & Romano Cheese
Adapted from Rebar: Modern Food Cookbook

Serves 2-3

1/2 lb whole wheat fettuccine
2 portabello mushrooms, marinated and roasted (Recipe below)
2 red or yellow bell peppers, roasted and peeled
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 onion, julienned
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup fresh basil*
1 recipe spinach pesto (Recipe below)
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
2 tbsp pine nuts, toasted

Preheat oven to 400F. Put the marinated mushrooms in an oven safe dish. Slice the bell peppers in half and seed them. Place them cut-side down on a baking sheet. Roast the mushrooms and peppers (separately) for about 15 minutes (long enough for the skin to blister on the peppers). Remove the mushrooms and peppers from the oven. Transfer peppers to a bowl and cover with a plate or lid for 10 minutes - this makes it easier to peel off the skin (though you can leave the skin on if you want). Peel the skin off.

Heat a large pot of boiling water to cook the pasta. Slice portabello mushrooms and roasted peppers into long, thin strips and set aside.

Heat olive oil in skillet and saute the onion until translucent. Add the mushrooms, peppers, and cherry tomato halves, toss to heat through and keep warm over low heat. Meanwhile, cook the fettuccine.

Strain the pasta and toss with enough pesto to liberally coat the noodles. Add the vegetables and basil and toss to combine. Divide among 2 pasta bowls, sprinkle with Romano cheese and toasted pine nuts.

*I used the same amount of freeze dried, though fresh is best. If you want to use dried, maybe do a couple of tablespoons.

Marinated Portabello Mushrooms

2 portabello mushrooms
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 tsp red chile flakes
1 garlic clove, minced
1/8 cup white wine
1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp lemon zest

Clean mushrooms and lay gill-side up in a shallow pan. Whisk together the marinade ingredients, pour over the mushrooms, cover and marinated in the refrigerator up to 4 hours.

Spinach Pesto

1 cup spinach, packed (or use a frozen package of spinach, thawed with the water squeezed out as I did)
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
4 cloves roasted garlic
1 clove fresh garlic
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp chile flakes
1/4 tsp cracked pepper
1/4 cup olive oil

Pulse all ingredients, except oil, to form a coarse paste. Add oil and pulse to blend. Keep refrigerated if not using right away.