Spaghetti with mushrooms and cream.

I know that for many people January starts off with good intentions; thoughts of detoxing, exercise and the like. I have chosen to start with bacon fat, cream and cheese. Explains a lot.

Serves 2-3

Ingredients

4 rashers of bacon
garlic, 1 clove (whole)
mushrooms, about 1 punnet
double cream
spaghetti
Parmesan cheese
parsley
one egg yolk per person (optional)

This sauce is very quick so have the boiling water ready for the pasta before you begin.  Start by cutting off the bacon rind and crisping it up in a little olive oil, then remove from the pan. This imparts great flavour to the sauce (you could cut it up and leave it in if you like that sort of thing).

                         Chop bacon rashers and add to the pan on a fairly high heat. After a couple of minutes put the pasta on to boil.

                                                  With the back of a knife press down on a fat clove of garlic (skin on is fine). 

 Add mushrooms to the pan and toss with the bacon on a high heat (if the heat isn't high enough the mushrooms will start to boil rather than fry). When the mushrooms have just started to colour, turn the heat down to medium and add the whole garlic clove. Cook for another few minutes.

At this point add about 5-6 tablespoons of the pasta water to the pan. Stir.

        Next add a generous amount of double cream (no measurements just whatever you think relative to the quantity of pasta). Let it start to bubble.

Put about 1 large cup of the pasta water aside (to loosen the sauce as necessary). When the pasta is still a couple of minutes away from being perfectly al dente, drain and add to the pan with the cream mixture. Toss to combine and add some finely chopped parsley. Season generously with salt and black pepper, and fish out the garlic. Taste and adjust as necessary.

You will probably need to add a few tablespoons of the water if the cream sauce gets too thick (it should not be a claggy mass!)

Serve with a sprinkling of Parmesan....

and an optional raw egg yolk in the centre.

Risotto ai funghi con pomodorini

 I was the grateful recipient of some lovely Carluccio Carnaroli rice and dried porcini for Christmas and have since since been eager to cook with them. I do love risotto but never order it in a restaurant following  a catalogue of claggy disappointments (apart from Theo Randall at the Intercontinental who achieved perfection in consistency and perfection in pretty much everything else as well). This is how I do it.

Ingredients

1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups risotto rice
1.5 litres (approx.) chicken stock
dried porcini, a small handful
2-3 rashers of bacon / pancetta
chestnut mushrooms, about 1/2 a punnet, more if you prefer.
1/2 lemon
parsley, finely chopped
Parmesan cheese
cherry tomatoes, 13-20 ish
butter
olive oil
 

                                                  Dried porcini





  Carluccio carnaroli rice

                                        Start by pouring some hot water onto the porcini to re-hydrate, leave for about 20 mins or until softened.

 Fry onion in olive oil until slightly golden (ignore the bacon in this photo, I added it to the wrong pan accidentally and subsequently fished it out).

Meanwhile in a separate pan cook the bacon and chestnut mushrooms in olive oil on a high heat until the bacon is crispy and the mushrooms have a nice golden colour.

Add the rice to the onions, stirring to coat with the olive oil. Let it cook like this for 3-4 mins, stirring to make sure the rice doesn't stick.  Then add a splosh of stock and stir until absorbed. Repeat this process of stirring and adding a little stock each time until the rice is cooked to your liking (it is important that the rice is cooked through but not mushy and still retains some texture).

When the bacon and chestnut mushrooms are cooked, add the porcini to the pan (reserving the liquid) and the juice of 1/2 lemon. Season generously with salt and pepper then mix into the rice. 

 When the rice is almost cooked, stir in about this much grated Parmesan. Add the liquid the porcini have been soaking in (take care not to add the grit which will have sunk to the bottom of the bowl). Season.

                                                                     Add cherry tomatoes and let them cook for 3-4 mins.

You don't need to use all of the stock if you don't need it, but make sure the risotto is not claggy and dry. It should have enough moisture so that it is all'onda (like a wave).If necessary add more stock now. Then add some finely chopped parsley. Check seasoning.

Remove from the heat and add a good chunk of butter, stir vigorously until it has melted into the rice.

                                                                       Serve with a bit more Parmesan sprinkled on top.