Make the Sauce

• Saute the onion and garlic in 1 tablespoon olive oil, on medium heat until translucent. Be sure to stir occasionally so it doesn’t burn. When the onions are done, add the spinach and cook just until wilted.
• Transfer the cooked spinach and onion to a blender. Add the basil, rest of the oil, garlic, milk, cheese, pecans, salt and pepper. Blend well, taste and add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside until pasta is ready.

Make Pasta and Veggies

• Heat a large pot of salted water to boil. When boiling, add noodles and cook until al dente.
• At the same time, heat another medium pot of boiling water to blanch the green veggies. When the water is boiling, add the veggies and cook for one minute. At the end of one minute, plunge the veggies into cold water to stop the cooking process.

Put it all together

• When the pasta is ready, drain well. In the same pot the pasta cooked, heat the sauce and half the vegetables on medium heat. Stir occasionally.
• When sauce is heated add the pasta and toss to coat the noodles. Serve up and add the remaining vegetables on top.

Tips

• For maximum authentic presentation, serve up your Peruvian green spaghetti with linguine noodles and don’t forget to add some hot sauce, Peruvians like it spicy!
• Full fat canned coconut milk is the best option for a creamier sauce. Other plant-based milks may work, but the sauce might not be quite as creamy and missing a bit of the fatty mouth feel.
• Use fresh spinach. Frozen spinach may seem like an easy shortcut you can take when making tallarines verdes, but honestly the fresh spinach is less work and tastes better too!

• Rinse brown rice and set aside.
• Heat oil in a medium-large pot or saucepan over high heat. Add half of the olive oil, half the mushrooms and sprinkle some salt. Cook them for about 4 minutes until they brown. Take out and keep them aside. We will add these in at the end.
• Now add the remaining olive oil, garlic and onions to the pot. Sauté for 2 mins. Add mushrooms and sauté for another 3-4 minutes stirring occasionally until they brown.
• Add brown rice, vegetable broth and salt. Stir and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to medium low and cook for about 35-40 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed. Stir in between starting at about 25 mins.
• When rice is done, add back in the mushrooms kept aside. Add in the optional tablespoon of butter and mix well. Top with green onions.
• Sprinkle some lime juice just before enjoying mushroom pilaf in the bowl and enjoy!

Notes

• Cremini mushrooms and baby Bella mushrooms are the same, regular white button mushrooms will work too.
• If you are using other rice, such as white basmati or jasmine rice, that can work, however reduce the cooking time depending on the rice you choose. For example, cook covered for 15 minutes for white rice.
• If you are using Better Than Bouillon base to make broth, you may want to skip adding salt.