Back and with Mushroom recipe to share!

Clearly it has been months since I my last post in the blog... gee, where does the time goes? Seriously, is it just me or this year is flying by?
Everything has been nice around here with us in the past few months. I was one happy gal going back to school, loved my classes to the last second of lectures, so much so that I decided to apply for Grad School and pursue a masters in Nutrition. Right now I am still waiting to hear from the University to see if they accepted me or not, so keeping my fingers crossed here!
And while I wait I am taking a summer nutrition class (one that counts for the masters already), this time I chose an online class since Matheus will be out of school pretty soon, but I have to tell you that taking online classes is not quite my thing. I like to go to the class, watch the lecture and interact with the teacher, I like to see and talk to people! Besides, when you are taking a class online you have to manage your own studying time, being very organized and disciplined to not miss any assignments (and man do I have many of them!).
Anyways, I am truly enjoying my nutrition class and since I am home most of the time I am also having more time to play in the kitchen. Lots of recipes being made and photographed lately, and here is one that I made that the three of us just absolutely LOVED: Mushroom Ragu
Since my favorite publication (Cooking Light) decided to entirely reformulate their magazine in the worse way possible (why, why did they do that to my favorite mag???), I had to start looking for new cooking/food mags that would present me with nutritious and delicious dishes, and luck me, I did find a great one. Besides Eating Well which I already liked a lot and have know for years, I have been very fond of a relatively new magazine lately: Clean Eating.
Man this magazine is colorful and has great recipes from a nutritional point of view, plus they have the same views/ideals in terms of food as mine: fresh foods, no refined sugars, no processed foods, dishes based on whole grains, vegetables and fruits... I could not ask for more.
I have been making many dishes from Clean Eating and we have been adoring them all. Their recipes are tasty, made with fresh and simple ingredients and easy to make - always a big plus, right?!
The one that stood out from the ones I made so far was definitely the Portobello Mushroom Ragu from the May/June 2010 issue.
The sauce was delicious, fragrant and so flavorful. Matheus loves mushrooms, he is crazy about it and he devoured this declaring the best pasta sauce ever. Even the husband (big meat eater) loved this one too and kept commenting throughout the meal on how good it tasted.
And I really liked it too! I am not one who likes canned tomatoes, for some reason I think it tastes like the can, but I let the sauce cook covered for almost hour and the flavors melded beautifully, leaving no vestiges of canned tomatoes at all. The recipe called for all portobello mushrooms but I used a mix of that and creminis, so feel free to use your favorite mushroom here. If you like mushrooms, you have to try this one!
Here is the recipe the way I made, enjoy!!
Ana

Mushroom Ragu
(adapted from Clean Eating Magazine)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
12 oz mushrooms (I used portobello and cremini), cleaned and diced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 (15oz) can chopped tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a large pan, sautee onions for about 3 minutes, add garlic and sautee for a minute more. Add mushrooms and thyme and continue to sautee for a few more minutes until the mushrooms start to soften. Add the tomatoes and cook until the mixture is thick. Serve over pasta or polenta.

My Note: The recipe states to cook sauce for 10 minutes, I cooked mine for about 40 to 50 minutes (while I was preparing the rest of the meal), and I found that the flavors were way better than after only 10 minutes. So feel free to adjust cooking time here to your preferences.
And if 10 minutes is all you have to cook the sauce then by all means go with that, this sauce is so delicious that even with 10 minutes of cooking I am sure you are still going to enjoy!