We love pasta, and have recently been trying out lots of new recipes You may have guessed from the picture that we didn’t use fusilli here, but instead went for some elk-shaped pasta that I found in Ikea (we love novelty pasta too, haha!). This is a simple but delicious dish that is perfect for a week night – if you’re making it veggie then make sure you use a veggie substitute for the Parmesan.

This recipe comes from Gino D’Acampo’s ‘Gino’s Pasta‘ and serves 4.

Ingredients

45g salted butter
250g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
2 leeks, washed and sliced 0.5cm thick
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
250g mascarpone cheese
3 tablespoons freshly chopped chives
4 pinches cayenne pepper (we used sweet smoked paprika instead)
500g fusilli
60 freshly grated Parmesan cheese (or veggie alternative)

Method

1. Melt the butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the mushrooms, leeks and garlic and fry for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon.

2. Spoon in the mascarpone and continue to cook for a further minute, stirring continuously. Stir in the chives and cayenne pepper, season with salt and remove from the heat.

3. Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain and tip back into the same pan.

4. Pour in the mushroom sauce and stir everything together for 30 seconds to allow the flavours to combine.

5. Divide between four serving plates, sprinkle over the Parmesan cheese and serve immediately.

We actually cooked the pasta whilst cooking the veg because Tom likes his food really hot, so you could do it that way too if you prefer. Enjoy!

The post Fusilli with chestnut mushrooms, leeks and mascarpone cheese appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Today I made pasta (for only the second time) and remembered how much I enjoy doing it! It’s definitely something to do on a weekend, and it’s easier than you think too. My first attempt was some ravioli, and today I tried out my tagliatelle attachment I had to get Tom to help me put it through the machine because it ended up being really long! 

This recipe is taken from ‘Gino’s Pasta‘ and serves 4. The original recipe says to use good quality pork sausages (or Italian sausages) but we used some smoky chipotle chilli sausages which worked really well.

Ingredients

For the pasta (makes about 400g)

300g white flour type ’00′, plus extra for dusting
3 medium eggs
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

For the rest of the dish

400g good quality pork sausages
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 leek, washed and finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped
50g dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in warm water for 15 mins and drained
100ml dry white wine
150ml double cream
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1.To make the pasta, sift the flour onto your work surface. Make a well in the centre and break in the eggs, before adding in the salt and oil.

2. Using the handle of a wooden spoon, mix the flour into the eggs, working from the centre outwards. Once you have a crumbly texture, gather the mixture together with your hands and start to knead until you have a soft dough.

3. Once the dough has come together, continue to knead for about 8 minutes, exactly as though you were kneading bread.

4. Roll the dough into a ball, cover in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.

5. After 20 minutes, remove the dough from the fridge and flatten it with your fingers so that it fits through the pasta machine. Flour the pasta lightly on both sides and work it though the machine from the thickest to the thinnest setting – keep the pasta floured so that it doesn’t stick. Pass it through the tagliatelle attachment and leave to dry out a little.

6. Remove the skins from the sausages and place the mixture in a bowl. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a low heat and fry the sausage meat and leeks for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to crumble the meat.

7. Add the rosemary and mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and continue to cook for 2 minutes. Pour in the wine and cook for a further minute, allowing the alcohol to evaporate.

8. Pour in the cream, mix everything together and cook a couple more minutes.

9. Cook the fresh pasta for 2-3 minutes in a pan of salted water until al dente (if you’re using dried pasta, then you’ll need to put it on a little earlier!).

10. Pour in the cream sauce and toss everything together for 30 seconds to allow the flavours to combine. Serve immediately.

The post Tagliatelle with sausages, rosemary and porcini mushrooms appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.