Pasta with Broccoli and Mushrooms

Eh.

Ingredients

• 1/2lb angel hair pasta (or whatever you prefer)
  
• 3/2c broccoli florets (smallish segments)
  
• 3/4c cremini mushrooms ("mini portabellas"), sliced thinly
  
• 1 small yellow onion or half of a medium one, chopped
  
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  
• 1/5c vermouth (well, okay, just like one good splash to deglaze the pan)
  
• salt, pepper, parsley, whatever else you like
  

Start the pasta boiling in a pot. In a separate pan, begin sautéeing the onion with the garlic and seasonings. When the onion begins to get translucent, throw in the mushrooms. When the onion is just a little brown and the mushrooms have given off a little liquid, add the vermouth and let it cook off. Then throw in the broccoli and stir around. My broccoli was frozen so it took a while to cook. By this point, the pasta will be getting close to done. Take some of the pasta water (about 1/2c) and add it to the onion/broccoli/mushroom mixture. Stir and leave uncovered to reduce a little. When it's reduced (and when the broccoli is cooked to your liking), add the pasta to the sauce and toss to coat. Serve with grated parmesan/romano/whatever.

Thoughts: I mean, it wasn't BAD. There was nothing awful about this preparation, but it didn't really stand out. It was easy enough, and pretty fast, but it was a little bland. I don't know what I would do to fix that. Probably I would use fresher mushrooms (mine were a little dried), more broccoli to pasta ratio (much more), I would cook the broccoli longer, (and that goes for the mushrooms, too) and I would season just a little more heavily, maybe with some rosemary. Finally, I would use a more bite-sized pasta, like radiatore or fusilli. Then we might have something worthwhile on our hands. Or we might have something awful. Hard to say at this point.

Disaster Index: 3/10 - Nothing too terrible; nothing too amazing either.