Rigatoni with Mushrooms and Pecorino

Rigatoni with Mushrooms
and Pecorino


50g dried porcini mushrooms
3tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely sliced, plus 1 clove garlic, sliced
250g  mushrooms, cut into 5mm slices
2tbsp chopped thyme
juice half a lemon        
75 ml double cream
400 g rigatonipasta
salt and pepper
chopped flat-leaf parsley
grated pecorino, to serve

Soak the porcini in 100ml hot water for 10 minutes while you get on with preparing the other ingredients.

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan then add the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes until soft. Add the mushrooms and cook slowly for about 15 minutes. Add the thyme and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Drain the porcini mushrooms, reserving the soaking water, and chop them into smaller pieces if large. Put them in a separate pan with a little more oil and the remaining clove of garlic and cook for about 15 minutes, until the mushrooms look juicy but not wet.

Add the porcini to the other mushrooms with a squeeze of lemon and the double cream. Season.

Cook the rigatoni in a large pan of salted water until al dente, then drain. Tip the pasta into the sauce and add the parsley, toss well and cook over a low heat for 2 minutes, adding a little grated pecorino while cooking.

Serve with a little more parmesan.