Papardelle with baby squash and mushrooms

Most days I peak into my lunch bag only to find the same thing I ate 500 days in a row...salad with turkey and some form of veggie, maybe an additional tomato to spice things up a bit, and a yogurt. It's pretty plain and most likely consumed well before a normal lunching hour. However, there are those days when I open the bag to reveal a tasty leftover set aside from the night before and yesterday's papardelle was the perfect reason to savor lunch a little longer. Just saying that pasta's name instantly makes me want to linger on the "L's" a tad longer, I think it makes the recipe sound more official and authentic. Nonetheless, this recipe for papardelle with mushrooms, sage, and baby squash was concocted in my head during a salad break epiphany and tasted amazing for dinner as well as crammed into my Tupperware the next day. A little chopping was the majority of the effort, while the rest of the assembly really fell into place.




Papardelle with baby squash, sage, and mushrooms

1 package papardelle noodles
9 baby zucchini (squash)
4-5 fresh sage leaves
1 glove garlic
1 shallot
1 pack (2 cups) mushroom of choice
1/2 tblsp butter
1 tblsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan
salt & pepper

- Bring large pot of water to boil. In the meantime slice zucchini on a sharp bias to form slivers, chop garlic, onion, and roughly shop the sage. Sprinkle squash with salt and pepper.
- In a large saute pan with high sides, melt 1/2 tblsp butter with 1 tblsp olive oil on medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Add squash, sage, and mushrooms and cook until squash is lightly brown and shrooms are slightly soft. Reduce heat to low.
- Cook pasta according to package, then strain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta water.
- Add noodles to saute pan of veggies along with the pasta water. Stir to combine and toss with half of the grated parmesan.
- Plate and top with remaining parmesan.