Tagliatelle with porcini mushrooms

Tagliatelle with porcini mushrooms

I hadn't tried this recipe, mainly because I find porcini mushrooms are quite expensive, and I have never got around to buying them. They just happened to be on special at the supermarket this week, so I thought I could tick another recipe of the list!

The preparation of this dish I found was quite odd. I kept thinking I had missed steps. It didn't require the garlic to be chopped, it was just for imparting garlic flavour to the porcini "sauce". I also found it didn't make a great deal of sauce for the amount of pasta, but I guess the flavour of the mushrooms, garlic and parsley are what the whole point of it is!

I think the recipe is also a little long winded. Cooking the mushrooms, then setting aside, then boiling water, then adding pasta to cook...there must be a more efficient way! My suggestion would be to cook the pasta in the thermoserver while the mushroom sauce is cooking. Simply boil some water in the kettle, add the amount of pasta you want to use to the thermoserver, pour over the boiling water and put on the lid. Leave it for the time suggested on the packet of the pasta. Once it has reached the time, check it has cooked enough for your liking. If it isn't quite done just leave it an extra minute them check again, drain and continue with recipe.

Aside from that, the dish is really tasty. The flavour of the mushrooms and the garlic, then the parmesan cheese all seem to work quite well together. I cut the amount of oil down by about half. I don't really like too much oil in my pasta. I will definitely make this recipe again, but change the process to make it a bit quicker! I think it would work well with other types of mushrooms if you didn't want to buy porcini or can't find them. I did have to hunt around the aisles for them!

Happy thermomixing!