Mushroom, Parmesan and Walnut Pasta

I’ve wanted to try walnuts with pasta for a while now, ever since I saw Nigella Lawson's recipe for walnut pasta, and this dish is inspired by that recipe. Toasting the walnuts really enhances their nuttiness and they’ve worked fantastically here with the mushrooms, garlic, cheese and bacon. The dish is substantial enough without the bacon, so you could easily omit it for a vegetarian version. I really can’t tell you how good this is, it’s great for winter; full of texture, warming and comforting.

Mushroom, Parmesan and Walnut Pasta

Ingredients
1 crushed garlic clove
2 -3 handfuls of thickly sliced mushrooms
4-6 tablespoons of mascarpone (or other cream cheese)
A handful of grated Parmesan cheese
A few handfuls of chopped walnuts
2 rashes of chopped bacon (optional)
Salt and pepper

1. Toast the walnuts in a non-stick dry pan, shaking the pan now and then, until they start to darken a little and you can smell their aroma. Set aside.

2. Fry the bacon, if using, and the mushrooms in a little olive oil until almost cooked through, then add the garlic and fry, stirring, until the bacon and mushrooms are cooked.

3. Stir in the mascarpone cheese and season well with salt and pepper.

4. Take the pan off the heat and stir in a handful or so of grated parmesan cheese to taste.

5. Stir the sauce through cooked pasta, adding a little of the pasta water to the sauce to loosen it if necessary.

6. Sprinkle over the toasted walnuts and grate over some more parmesan cheese

Serves 2

Don't forget, this month's 'In the Bag' closes tomorrow!

How are you getting on with your entries for 'In the Bag' this month? We've had some mouth-watering entries in and I'm looking forward to seeing even more! With chestnuts, chocolate and sugar in this month's bag it's going to be a deliciously sweet round-up!

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Monday Night Pizza

I know the thought of making your own pizza from scratch, dough included, on a Monday night is probably exhausting in itself, but honestly this was as quick as anything to make, and you’ll feel so virtuous for making your own rather than picking up the phone to the local pizza delivery service.

The sauce will take a good 20 minutes or so, so start that off first. You just need to sauté a crushed garlic clove and shallot in a little olive oil until starting to soften, then add in a teaspoon of sugar and a 400g tin of tomatoes. I used tinned cherry tomatoes for a change, but you could use chopped or even whole plum tomatoes and just chop them down in the saucepan as they cook. You can also add a squirt of tomato puree to if you like, to deepen the flavour. Let the sauce simmer until nicely thickened. You can either sieve the sauce as I did, or use it as it is.

While the sauce is cooking make your pizza dough. This recipe from the very lovely James Martin is so quick and easy – it contains no yeast so you don’t need to prove it.

Once the dough is rolled out smother it in the tomato sauce and then generously scattered over grated mozzarella and slices of cooked chorizo (or whatever topping you fancy or is to hand). Cook at 220c for 12-15 minutes.

Not only was the pizza really tasty and totally home made, but I made it and was eating it in less time than it would have taken for a take away pizza to arrive. How great is that?