HERBY MUSHROOM MEDLEY PASTA

You don't always need to pile hundreds of ingredients into a dish to make it a stunner. Sometimes the simplest of concoctions can turn out one of the best meals you will ever eat. This mushroom pasta creation is one of those. It's literally a mix of chestnut and porcini mushrooms and herbs, fried in butter and then poached in stock until reduced. Mix in the pasta of your choice and garnish with a final flurry of fresh parsley leaves and in less than half an hour, a little plate of perfection is on your table ready to dive into! 

Herby Mushroom Pasta 

30g Dried Porcini Mushrooms

1 Tbsp Butter

Handful Chopped Chestnut Mushrooms

1 Tbsp Chopped Sage Leaves

1 Tbsp Chopped Thyme Leaves

200ml Vegetable Stock

Salt And Pepper To Season

Pasta Of Your Choice (Enough For 2 People)

1 Tbsp Chopped Parsley To Garnish

1. Begin by soaking the porcini mushrooms in 100ml of boiling water. Cover and leave to one side.
2. Place the butter in a pan on a medium heat until melted and hot before adding in the sage, thyme and chestnut mushrooms and fry until the mushrooms have softened. 
3. Remove the porcini from the water they have been soaking in, chop them and then add to to the pan along with the soaking water and the stock. Season with the salt and pepper, stir and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer until the broth has thickened and reduced, around ten minutes or so.
4. Whilst the pan simmers, cook your pasta as per the packet instructions. Once the pasta and the mushroom mixture are both ready, add the pasta to the mushroom pan with 1 tbsp of the pasta's boiling water and mix it though until the pasta is coated in the mushroom sauce. 
5. Serve and garnish with the chopped parsley leaves.

If you're quick you can have this dish prepared from ingredients to plate in around 30 minutes making it a perfect dish to knock up if your stretched for time but still want to treat yourself to something truly scrumptious. In addition, by using a just a stock to simmer your herby mushrooms in rather than a creamy sauce which would often accompany a mushroom based dish, you've also created something that's better for your waistline as well. So when you factor all those points in, its clear to see that adding this medley of mushrooms to your repertoire is a no brainer!