Campanelle w/ mushrooms & cream sauce

Campanelle (my new favorite pasta) topped with my homemade alfredo or cream sauce and mushrooms.

Ingredients:

Campanelle pasta (or any pasta that you like)
Fresh mushrooms

Heavy cream
Butter
Parmesan or Romano cheese, grated
Fresh lemon juice
Pepper (both black and white)

Combine 1/2 - 3/4 stick softened butter with one of those small cartons (remember the milk cartons from Kindergarten?) of heavy whipping cream. Stir in about a cup of your grated cheese, and let it sit in the fridge while you prepare the pasta.

Cook the pasta in boiling water with olive oil and LOTS of salt! I don't think non-Italians understand the importance of salted water... it's VERY important!

You can warm the sauce on the stove, but only on a very low heat, you want it to warm gradually. Squeeze in the lemon juice, add a dash of white pepper, and a few dashes of black pepper. Stir often, don't let it get clumpy or runny.

When the pasta has a few minutes of cooking left, toss in the mushrooms, and let them cook in the pasta water. Pour the pasta and mushrooms into a strainer, and run water over the whole things for a few minutes before transferring it to a bowl or plate, and topping with the sauce.

The sauce might take some practice, because sometimes its too chunky, and sometimes it melts on the hot pasta and becomes too runny. Figure out exactly what consistency you like by experimenting with more or less butter, cheese, and cream. Of course, you could also add fresh cherry tomatoes, or fresh spinach, or broccoli in the place of (or in addition to!) the mushrooms. Its also really yummy with grilled chicken, or with shrimp.