Pasta with artichokes, mushrooms and sun dried tomatoes

We're back after a great trip to the US to celebrate the wedding again. It was wonderful to see friends and family and eat some food I don't usually get the chance to. Even A looks forward to some things, like really cheap Krispy Kreme doughnuts and Chick-fil-a.

The week before Easter, A tries to fast, which is something many Greek Orthodox do during Lent for various time periods. Fasting means having a vegan diet, which is cutting out most of the things A enjoys about a meal (aka meat). This is also a real trial on my dinner planning ideas. No cheese? No milk? No bacon (which may be one of the top inventions/discoveries in relation to food. On a side note, I once had a class in high school that asked us to list the top ten best developments/things that were created in the 20th century. Incredibly interesting discussion topic that's great for dinner parties. Any thoughts? I thought birth control and contacts were amazing, but I believe my 17-year-old perspective may have slanted my views at the time.) Back to the food, I wanted to try a non-traditional fasting meal for A this year and threw this together from things I had in the cupboard. Or larder, as it's called in the UK.

I sauteed garlic, mushrooms, onions and thinly sliced sun dried tomatoes in olive oil for 5-7 minutes. After quartering the canned artichoke hearts, I added those at the last minute to the sauteeing so they didn't break down too much.

I then doused everything with one cup or so of white wine. Simmer this until it boils down to about half.

I poured all of the mixture over very thin fettuccine and tossed with a drizzle more olive oil. If fasting, resist the urge to grate parmesan over this.

I will say that this dish has a tangy and slightly sharp taste but the combination of the artichoke hearts and white wine work well together and give it layers of flavour.

Yes, a light dusting of cheese may have cut through the sharpness and I recommend it if you do not want a dish that is too sharp. I really enjoyed this dinner and may be rethinking my proclamation about bacon. Although speaking of bacon, maybe a strip of pancetta in this dish would be good...