Mushroom Tagliatelle

Serves: 4 Time Preparation time 30 minutes Cooking time 20–30 minutes, depending on pasta.

Ingredients

• 25g dried mushrooms (eg porcini)

• 350ml boiling water (cooled slightly)

• 1 tablespoon sunflower oil

• 1 red onion, peeled and finely chopped

• 250g fresh mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

• 1 garlic clove, peeled and sliced

• ½ red chilli, deseeded and chopped

• 450g fresh tagliatelle (or 350g dried tagliatelle)

• ½ low-salt vegetable stock cube

• 100ml low-fat crème fraîche

• handful chopped fresh parsley (1 teaspoon dried)

To serve

• 25g grated parmesan (optional)

• green salad

Method

1. Soak the dried mushrooms in the boiled water for 30 minutes.

2. To make the mushroom sauce, heat half the oil over a moderate heat in a large saucepan and fry the sliced onions, fresh mushrooms, garlic and chilli for 10 minutes until soft.

3. Reserving the water, remove the soaked mushrooms rinse in a sieve and add to the saucepan. Fry for two minutes before adding the sieved mushroom water, reduce the temperature to low, place a lid on top of the saucepan and simmer for 5 minutes.

4. Meanwhile bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add the fresh tagliatelle and when it begins to boil again, reduce the temperature to low and simmer for 5 minutes until cooked to ‘al dente’ (which means it should still have a bite and not be completely soft). If you are using dried tagliatelle, cook as per packet instructions.

5. To finish the sauce, crumble the stock cube into the mushrooms and stir until it has completely dissolved, add the crème fraîche and chopped parsley while stirring, replace the lid and simmer for a further 2 minutes until the sauce is thick and creamy.

6. When the pasta is cooked, spoon about 60ml of its cooking water into the mushroom sauce, drain the pasta well and quickly tip into the mushroom sauce and stir to coat. Serve immediately with a little grated parmesan and green salad.