Pasta with Crispy Mushroom & Garlic Crumble.
This is my favorite thing lately. I’m not ashamed to say it was an accident…but it kind of was.
The accidental part of this was that I walked away and started eating ice cream while the mushrooms and garlic were sautéing. I came back and thought I had burned it but it was crisped to perfection quite honestly. Of course, with garlic, it’s really easy to burn it and get that terrible, acrid taste so don’t do what I did and leave it alone.
This is a great substitute for people that love a pasta with meat sauce! The mushroom has a meaty texture when it’s grated and sautéed and the same kind of crumble that you would get by cooking with ground meat.
I’m not really a fan of soy based meat products, but this is something that I really, truly enjoy. I usually can’t get past the texture of most of them. The exception being Upton’s Naturals seitan bacon which is so, so, so good. All the other different soy and seitan “meats” (in my opinion) have an off putting, rubbery bite to them.
I made quinoa pasta and used my own homemade marinara sauce. My favorite brands of gluten free pasta are Ancient Harvest and Bionaturae.
Also, finely chopped some raw baby spinach and tossed it into my bowl at the end so it just wilted from the residual at heat and didn’t get mushy.
Makes approx. 1/2 c of crumble.
Note: the largest holes on a box grater work perfectly for this job.
For the mushroom crumble:
1 1/2 c of grated mushrooms, I used portobellos because they have a meaty texture
2 t minced garlic
2 T olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste
Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat.
Add the mushrooms and cook for 7-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Let the mushrooms sweat their moisture out until they’ve reduced by at least half in volume.
Add the garlic and continue to sauté and stir.
Cook until the mixture starts to brown and then turn the heat down to medium-low.
Keep sautéing and stirring occasionally until you can feel that the mix has a crisp texture to it. Don’t be afraid to taste and see!
After adding the garlic, I cooked for another 6-7 minutes, so about 15 minutes in total cooking time.
Add a pinch of salt and fresh cracked pepper when you’re ready to remove it from the pan.
Mushrooms lose a LOT of their volume after cooking so double the recipe if you’re cooking for more than one. I usually eat this much by myself.
Toss with some pasta, sauce and whatever vegetables you like.
Enjoy!
Eat More Plants. 
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