Aunt Josie’s Special! from Aunt Josie’s Restaurant, Syracuse NY

Cavatelli with Broccoli and Mushrooms and Garlic-Butter Sauce

Aunt Josie’s is closed but the happy memories live on!

Ingredients and directions below were from the owner Mike Caruso. Notes at the end are mine – Terry

Ingredients
1 Stick Salted Butter cut into cubes
6 Spears Broccoli, steamed
2 Cups White Mushrooms, cooked
1 Pound Cavatelli, cooked
1 Large Clove Garlic, minced

Directions:

  • On low heat, melt butter in large saute pan.
  • Add garlic and heat for 2 minutes
  • Add broccoli and mushrooms and heat for an additional 2 minutes while combining the ingredients together.
  • Add precooked pasta and fold into the ingredients already in the pan.
  • Heat and combine thoroughly the pasta, vegetables, garlic and butter, garnish with fresh parsley and serve in a large pasta bowl.

Makes 2 servings.

Notes:

First, this is incredible. I looked for it for literally decades and am happy to thank Mike Caruso for sharing!

The recipe calls for 1 pound of Cavatelli, cooked. I’m not really sure what this means. It could have been 1 pound of fresh pasta since some of their pasta was home made, or it could have been 1 pound dry, then cooked, or it could have been 1 pound of cooked pasta. I’m not really sure.

Based on my admittedly foggy memory of the 1980’s I think it was a pound of fresh pasta, cooked. An entire 1 pound box of dry seems like too much and 1 pound cooked seems like too little.

Mangia!