In Crete, we tend to cook spaghetti or pasta in very good stock, often coming from boiling lamb or goat. I tend to add some bouillon always in the water that I boil pasta.
Ingredients (serves 4)
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and 30ml extra for the pesto
- 250g white mushrooms, sliced
- 25g dried mushrooms
- 1 sprig of thyme
- 100ml double cream
- 200g fusilli or other short pasta
- 1 tsp vegetable bouillon
For the pesto
- 50g walnuts
- A small bunch of parsley, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 100g of strong cheese like parmesan, grated
- ½ lemon, juice
Method
Start by putting the dried mushrooms in a bowl and top with boiling water. Cover with a weighted little saucer and leave to soak.
Next make the pesto. In a small blender, put the walnuts, half of the grated cheese, chopped parsley and garlic, olive oil and lemon juice and blitz to form a paste.
To cook the mushrooms, bring a sauteing pan to a medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the onion and sweat for a few minutes until translucent. While the onion is cooking, slice the dried mushrooms. Add the fresh and hydrated mushrooms to the pan and toss for a few minutes to fry. Add the mushroom soaking water, the thyme sprig and season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, cover the pan, reduce the heat and cook for a few minutes till most of the liquid has been absorbed. Add the cream to the mushrooms and cook for a minute or two further. Last, add the chopped parsley.
To cook the pasta, bring a medium size saucepan with plenty of water to the boil. Add a pinch of salt, the bouillon and the fusilli. Cook to suit your personal taste. Drain but reserve a little of the water.
Transfer the pasta into the mushroom sauce and mix well. Make the pasta creamy by adding one or two tbsp of the reserved pasta water and mix.
Serve the fusilli and scatter spoonfuls of the pesto over it, extra parsley and cheese.