Baked Mushroom Spaghetti with Homemade Tomato Pasta Sauce

CookBook Challenge Week 47: Italian

If I decided to stay eat at home on weekends I would rather stick to something simple, easy and have minimum dish washing to do. Last weekend I decided to cook spaghetti with homemade tomato pasta sauce with portobello mushroom and bake in the oven to melt the cheese toppings. You can substitute portobello mushroom and spaghetti with any mushroom and pasta of your choice. I also make some white sauce to have with boiled brocolli.

Ingredients:-

• 500g packed spaghetti
• 400g Portobello mushroom, sliced
• 20g butter
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil or cooking oil
• 1 tbsp or more dried mixed herbs or any dried herbs you like (how to release the dried her flavour? Click here)
• Shredded cheese (as much / as little as you wish)

     Homemade Tomato Pasta Sauce

• 1 brown onion, sliced
• 1 french shallot, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (400g) canned chopped tomatoes or 2 fresh tomatoes, chopped
• 2 1/2 tbsp tomato paste or to taste
• 1 cup water
• 1 1/2 tbsp sugar or to taste
• salt and pepper to taste

Method:-

1. Homemade Tomato Pasta Sauce: Saute onion, shallot and garlic until soft. Add in chopped tomatoes and stir until it is soften. Then, add in tomato paste. Stir constantly to make sure all ingredients are well combined. Add water, bring to boil and lower heat to simmer. Add sugar, salt and pepper and simmer further until the pasta sauce thickened. Set aside.
2. Meanwhile, while waiting for the pasta sauce to thicken, preheat oven to 200 degre celcius and boil a pot of salted water and cooked spaghetti as instructed in the package. Drain and drizzle with some olive oil/cooking oil/butter so that it doesn't stick together. Set aside. 
3. Mushroom: Using the same pot, wipe dry and at medium low heat, melt butter, add dried mixed herbs and drizzle in olive oil. Once it is frangrant, add in sliced mushroom, coat all mushrooms with butter mixture. Cook until the mushrooms moisture is ooze out. Then,pour in the pasta sauce and simmer at low heat for 10 minutes and adjust the sugar, salt and peppper to taste. Then, toss the spagetti in pasta sauce and mix well. Remove the spaghetti and sauce into a baking dish. Top with sprinkle shrreded cheese. Bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese melted. 
4. While waiting for the cheese to melt, boiled brocolli in salted boiling water and prepare the white sauce. 

    For white sauce:-

     Ingredients:-

• 50g butter
• 1 tsp olive oil or cooking oil
• 1 tbsp all purpose flour
• 1 cup milk, room tempreture

    Method:-

1. At low heat, melt butter and add olive oil. Once the butter is completely melted, add in flour and make sure it is well corporated with butter. Add milk and whisk to get rid of any lumps. Simmer until the desire consistency. 
2. Serve with boiled brocolli or top the bake spagetti before serving.