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Easy family dinner ideas got better with creamy cauliflower & leek sauce, buttery garlic mushrooms & cheddar cheese on linguine to make Cheddar Mushroom Linguine.
Cheddar Mushroom Linguine
It’s cold outside. I’m itching for spring. I know that’s the case when I am making comfort food like pasta more & more often. I love a good pasta dish, don’t you? Warm comfort foods this time of year seem to be craved more & more. It’s just so quick & easy to whip up something that feeds my ever hungry teens & myself. It’s even better if there’s a little left over for the hubs to take back to the apartment for the week too. But I like to keep it different & mix it up once in a while. So I ditched the usual pasta sauce & created this alternative using ingredients like cauliflower & leeks mixed with milk & cheese. The family loved it.
I started this with the idea of the Chopped at Home Challenge from Sargento®. You know the idea- take a random set of ingredients & think outside the box to create something unique & delicious. This certainly was a challenge at first. Starting with cauliflower, leeks, crimini mushrooms & pairing them with Sargento sharp cheddar fine cut cheese, I had my base of ingredients. But once I remembered my easy cauliflower sauce, the rest of the recipe came together easily.
Have you ever had a cauliflower based sauce before? It’s a great way to get that creamy pasta sauce texture & flavor without all the heaviness. To add depth I included the chopped leeks to my usual sauce recipe & then cooked up some mushrooms in butter & garlic. My son was all over that.
Cheddar Mushroom Linguine
Ingredients
- 2-1/2 - 3 cups cauliflower florets
- 1 leek - washed ends trimmed- sliced down the middle & chopped
- 3 cups water
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup crimini mushrooms
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 small box linguini noodles
- 1/2 cup Sargento Sharp Cheddar Cheese- fine cut
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Combine water, cauliflower & chopped leek pieces in a medium saucepan
- Cover & cook over medium 7-10 minutes or until pieces are fork tender- do not drain
- In a large stockpot- prepare linguini noodles to package directions - drain & set aside but keep warm
- Combine garlic, butter & mushrooms in a small skillet & saute over medium heat until mushrooms are slightly softened but garlic has not browned. - Remove from heat
- Use a slotted spoon & transfer cauliflower & leeks to the blender
- Add 1/2 cup reserved cooking water, milk, salt & pepper
- Blend on high for 2-5 full minutes or until it reaches the consistency you are looking for (you can leave a little thicker or blend until smooth)
- Remove blender blade & stir in your buttery garlic mushrooms & cheese
- Spoon over prepared noodles
Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate. Please double-check with your own dietary calculator for the best accuracy. We at Yummi Haus cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site.
Submit your recipe to FoodNetwork.com/ChoppedChallenge for the chance to win $5,000 and a trip to New York City to compete in a televised Chopped cooking challenge for a $10,000 grand prize!
Available in 30 versatile varieties, unique blends and distinct cuts, Sargento Shredded Cheese is always cut from blocks of 100% real, natural cheese. Sargento Shredded Cheese ranges in size from 3.25 to 3.95 ounces for a suggested retail price of $2.69 each.
For more inspiration, check out the Sargento Pinterest page or visit www.sargento.com/Shredded for more information.
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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Sargento. The opinions and text are all mine.
Carlee says
Oh my goodness, that looks divine. I love the idea of a cauliflower sauce too. My husband (thinks he) hates cauliflower, so I would have to make sure to hide the ingredients from him 😉
Jesh StG says
I love linguini, but only had one recipe for it, so I’m jazzed! Like the almost Asian twist to the “sauce” except for the sharp cheddar, or course. Will sure make this, one of these days! Thanks for the recipe!