Mushroom broccoli Alfredo (light)

I could have named this dish Alfredo with broccoli and mushrooms, or broccoli mushroom Alfredo, but I chose to use mushrooms as the lead as a nod to my husband.  He loves mushrooms.  Its his favorite fungus.  Although I use a guiltless Alfredo sauce recipe from Our Best Bites, I make this dish my own by adding in a lot of sauteed mushrooms and their juices as well as some roasted broccoli.  The result is really, really good, and again, this recipe is versatile because you could add whatever you want to the sauce recipe to make a meal.  I have added sauteed red peppers and spinach.  I have served it with salmon.  It is very versatile and very easy.  Enjoy.

Guiltless Alfredo sauce
2 cups lowfat milk
1/3 cup (3 oz) lowfat cream cheese
2 TBS flour
1 tsp salt
1 TBS butter
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup grated parmesan cheese (not the powder stuff)

1 lb preferred pasta of choice
1 lb broccoli florets
8 oz-1 lb sliced mushrooms
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste


To make sauce:
In a blender or food processor, blend the milk, cream cheese, flour, and salt until smooth and set aside.  In a large saucepan, melt butter on medium-high heat and add the minced garlic.  Saute the garlic for about 30 seconds, stirring constantly so it doesn't burn.  Add the milk mixture to the butter and garlic and stir constantly for about 3-4 minutes until it comes to a simmer.  Keep stirring and let it cook for another 2-3 minutes until the sauce thickens.  Remove from heat and whisk in the grated cheese.  Cover the pan and allow the sauce to stand for about 10 minutes before using.


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place the broccoli florets on a baking sheet, drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast for about 15 minutes or until the broccoli starts to get just a little bit of char on the edges (but it should still have a nice bright green color).  When the broccoli is finished roasting, turn out on to a cutting board and roughly chop (if you want smaller pieces)

While the broccoli is roasting, make the pasta according to package directions, and begin the mushrooms.  Heat a little olive oil in a very large saute pan (mushrooms like to have their room!) over medium to medium high heat.  Add the mushrooms to the pan and sprinkle with some salt to allow the mushrooms to release all their awesome juices.  Saute until the mushrooms are nice and tender and golden brown, stirring occasionally (up to 5-10 minutes depending on how many mushrooms you are cooking).  When the mushrooms are done, add the Alfredo sauce right into the mushroom pan and gently stir.

When the pasta is finished cooking, drain the pasta water and add the mushroom Alfredo sauce and the chopped brocooli right into the pasta pan.  Test the finished pasta for seasoning.  I like to add a good amount of fresh cracked pepper to my pasta at this point, but its up to you!