Creamy Mushroom Macaroni Casserole

Ingredients

• 1 cup elbow macaroni + 1 Tablespoon oil
• 1 Tablespoon margarine or butter
• 2 cups mushrooms, sliced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 3 Tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• To serve
• 2 teaspoons parsley, chopped
• 1 large tomato, cut into slices
• Serves 2-3

Directions

1. To cook pasta, fill a large pot 2/3 of the way with hot tap water. Add 1 teaspoon salt to the water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and stir with a wooden spoon to be sure noodles don’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
2. Turn the heat down, enough to maintain a boil and stir every so often to prevent noodles sticking. Do not cover the pot. After 8-10 minutes, take a piece of pasta out of the water, allow it to cool and do a test for doneness.
3. Bite into the pasta. If it is too hard to bite or you see a white center, it needs to cook a little longer. When it cooks all the way through it is ready and cooked el dente. Turn off the heat, put the pasta into a strainer. Shake out excess water and put the pot back onto a cool part of the stove.
4. Pour one tablespoon oil into the noodles to keep them from sticking together.
5. While the pasta is cooking, in a medium size sauce pan, melt margarine.
6. Add the sliced mushrooms and cook until they are tender. Add the garlic and cook one minute longer.
7. Stir in the flour and milk until no flour lumps remain.
8. Stir in dried herbs.
9. Bring to a boil, and stir constantly with a silicone spatula, making certain to scrape the bottom of the pan as it cooks so the sauce does not thicken and scorch on the bottom of the pot.
10. Reduce heat and simmer until thick.
11. Serve sauce over pasta.
12. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley and tomato slices.