Healthy Linguine with spinach, mushrooms, grape tomatoes and creamy lemon-yogurt sauce

Ok, I know you all aren't necessarily into "healthy" meals like this.  My main reason for posting it is that I actually made the noodles myself, and they weren't half bad.  See, Dad and I gave up eating pasta as a main dish a long time ago, but I really miss it sometimes.  So, this seemed like a good compromise...and it really did taste good, not wierd or unusual at all.  First, I'll give you the recipe for the above, then, I'll give you the noodle making low down.

8 oz whole-wheat (or other) linguine
1/2 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup grated Parmesean cheese
1 teasp. grated lemon zest
1/4 teasp. salt
1/4 teasp. ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 small onion, chopped
6-8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
6-8 oz. baby spinach
2 cloves (or 2 teasp. minced) garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved lengthwise

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add the linguine and cook about 9 min. or according to the package direction.  Drain the pasta and reserve 1/4 cup of the cooking water.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, stir together the yogurt, Parmesean, lemon zest and s & p.  Set aside.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium high heat.  Add the onion and mushrooms and saute.

When the mushrooms are browned, add the garlic and spinach, and cook about 2-4 minutes, or until softened. Add the tomatoes and saute about 2 min. until hot.  Add the cooked noodles to the skillet and mix with the veg, and add the yogurt mixture.  Stir gently to combine.  Add reserved pasta water if necessary to thin it. 

Dad as my sous chef.

So colorful!

The finished product.

Here's the very simple (although a bit tedious) noodle recipe.  You will need a few hours to do it right.

2 cups all purpose or whole wheat flour

     (I used whole wheat plus buckwheat flour and a small amount of ground flax seed meal)

3 egg yolks

1 egg

2 teasp. salt

1/4 to 1/2 cup water

Make a well in center of flour.  Add egg yolks, egg and salt.  Mix thoroughly.  Mix in water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until dough is stiff but easy to roll. 

Divide dough into 4 equal parts.  Roll dough, one part at a time, into a paper-thin rectangle on well-floured clothe covered board (keep remaining dough covered).  Loosely fold rectangle lengthwise into thirds and cut crosswise into 1/8 inch strips for narrow noodles, 1/4 inch strips for wider noodles.  Shake out strips and place on towel until stiff and dry, about 2 hours.

                                    

  

The biggest things I learned by making the noodles (which really were easy) was to use LOTS of flour.  And I think I would have kneaded the dough (even though the directions don't say to).  Since I don't have a pasta machine, I think kneading would have made the pasta easier to work with.  It was also hard to get it really thin without the pasta machine, but they still tasted like noodles, and we enjoyed them.   Give it a try.