On the Table: Mushroom, Tomato, and Basil Creamy Pasta

I hadn't made a creamy pasta (with cream cheese! I could eat the stuff with a fork) in a while, so I decided to whip some up for dinner on a rainy night this week.  There is nothing more comfort food-y!  To prepare:

Put a large pot of salted water on to boil, and prepare half a pound of pasta according to package directions (I used penne).  The sauce is quick to prepare, so it should be done in the amount of time it takes to boil the water and cook the pasta.

Dice up one small yellow onion, thinly slice about 4 ounces of mushrooms, and slice in half about a quarter of a pint of grape tomatoes.  Put a medium-sized pot over medium/low heat and thinly coat the bottom of the pan with canola oil.  When the oil gets hot, add in the onions.  Cook, stirring often, until the onions are translucent.

Add the mushrooms to the pot and cook, stirring often, until the mushrooms are browned.

Add the tomatoes to the pot, along with salt.  Cook, stirring often, for about ten minutes.

While the sauce is cooking, chiffonade some basil.  Stack a few leaves, roll them up like a cigar, and slice them into thin strips.  (Sorry for the fuzzy picture in the middle - it looked fine on the camera!)

When the tomatoes have cooked for a while, stir into the sauce about 1/3 of an 8 ounce brick of cream cheese, cut into pieces.  Add into the pot the cooked pasta, along with some of the pasta water.  Stir well, until the cream cheese is melted and fully incorporated into the pasta.  Taste and adjust seasoning.

Top with the chiffonaded basil.

Enjoy!