Macaroni con funghi

Hello again! The long delay hasn't been because I've died due to mushroom poisoning, rather that the season has progressed from potatoes and courgettes to fungi and tomatoes pretty much seamlessly and it's still stretching my ability to come up with something fresh and interesting.



My days are spent rendering tomato products and drying and freezing various fungi for the winter. Today I had a big pot of tomatoes that were becoming passata and some mixed varieties of mushrooms - chanterelle, sheeps' feet and parasols - to preserve.

It seemed hopelessly Italian so for my supper I had to include some pasta. Start the pasta first, if it finishes cooking before the sauce is ready, drain and keep warm but it should all come together about right.



The sauce was made with a clove of garlic and a small onion (or use a shallot) chopped fine and softened in plenty of olive oil. When this starts to smell delicious add your prepared mushrooms and stir them around in the hot pan so that they cook and take on the caramel sugars of the onion. Add a couple of ladles of hot fresh tomato passata, salt and pepper to taste and allow to simmer down for a few minutes.

Add the drained pasta to the sauce, toss well, sprinkle with some fresh green basil and serve.