This recipe is a really good way of combining vegetables with mushrooms in a pasta sauce. Dried porcini mushrooms are easy to get hold of and have loads of flavour. The addition of mint works really well with the other ingredients but be carfeful, as too much mint can overpower the other ingredients. Conchighlie (pasta shells) work well in this recipe as the sauce tends to get stuck in the inside of the shells. Have a great weekend!
Ingredients - serves four
400g of pasta shells
4 medium sized courgettes (cut in half length ways then in slices)
40g of dried porcini mushrooms (soaked in hot water, drained and roughly chopped)
1 clove of garlic (finely sliced)
3 tblsp of olive oil
75 g of grated parmesan
6 leaves of mint (finely chopped)
Method
In a non stick frying pan add the olive oil and gently fry the garlic until it is soft add the soaked porcini mushrooms and the juice and reduce by half.
In a pot of boiling salted water cook the courgettes until they are soft in texture (about five mins cooking time) then add them to the porcini mushrooms. Cook together for about five mins and season.
In a pot of boiling salted water cook the pasta shells until al dente and take out of the water with a slotted spoon and add to the courgettes and porcini mushrooms. Add a ladle of the pasta water and reduce the liquid and toss well so the starch from the pasta thickens the sauce. Add the finely chopped mint and check the seasoning. Serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese. Try this with a glass of Chianti Classico.