Quick and easy mushroom alfredo!

Being Italian, I have made all kinds of pasta sauces countless times... alfredo included.  I even once won a pasta sauce cook-off with my classic alfredo recipe, despite the fact that it was the only sauce without meat.

The thing about that alfredo is that it's completely unhealthy... and expensive to make.  It's mostly made of heavy cream, butter, and fresh-grated Romano cheese.  The cream and butter make it super high in fat, and the cheese is expensive.

This new recipe, while not a traditional alfredo, has all the flavor of the classic and then some... and it's not quite as bad for you and much less expensive!  I got the idea from a coworker and tweaked it a bit... thanks, Ian!

I start it off by sautéing some sliced mushrooms in olive oil in a large, deep saucepan... just to the point that they are soft.  I then add a large can of condensed cream of mushroom soup, and about half that can worth of skim milk (or more or less depending on your consistency preference) as well as some dried oregano, basil, parsley, and white pepper to taste.  Then, I slowly stirred in about 6oz of grated Romano and let it simmer.  While doing all of that, I cooked some Barilla rotini made with zucchini and spinach (a wonderful way to add some veggies in your meals!), and I added it to the sauce. 

The creaminess from the condensed soup gives it a really lovely consistency, even without the butter and heavy cream... and starting it off by sautéing mushrooms really ups the flavor!

It turned out awesome... honestly it is now my preferred way to make alfredo at home.  It goes great with homemade garlic bread!