Porcini and Pancetta Parppadelle

Mushroom success courtesy of Simon Hopkinson

My most favourite cookbook of all time is Simon Hopkinson's The Good Cook, and I can't lie, this recipe is word for word his (almost).  Its creamy, without cream, very mushroomy and earthy, without lots of mushrooms and quick and easy , even though the rewards are vast.
So this post is for Dani and Moff who seemed to rather like this recipe over last weekend. If your friends are veggie, omit the Pancetta.

Serves 2 very well for a main or 4 people for a starter

500ml of milk
30g of dried Porcini
60g of butter (40g for the roux, 20g for topping)
25g plain flour
200g Parppadelle, you can also use Tagliatelle as Parppadelle is just thick pasta strips but it doesn't have such pleasing alliteration.
70g of cubed pancetta
As much Parmesan as Physics allows

Preheat your oven to 180C

Warm the milk on your hob and add the dried mushrooms. Staying on a low heat, Soak the mushrooms in the milk for 15 mins until the milk has changed colour to a  light brown, earthy colour. Strain the milk into another pan and squeeze the mushrooms in a sieve with the back of the spoon for extra mushroominess. Set the milk and the mushrooms aside.

Melt 40g of butter and add the flour to make the roux. Cook this roux on low for a few minutes to minimise flouriness in the sauce.
Pour in the mushroom milk and whisk well until smooth. Cook over a low heat for 30 minutes or until the sauce has the consistency of double cream,stirring frequently and season.
Pop the mushrooms back into the sauce and take it off the heat.

Boil a pan of water with a dot of salt and cook your Parpadelle until al dente. The dish will be baked and the pasta will cook more in the oven so if you cook the pasta too well it can go mushy.

Once the pasta is ready after around 5 mins, drain. Move this pasta to a roomy bowl and cover with the mushroom sauce. Mix well and if you are using Pancetta, add it now and mix well again.

If this is a main course for two, add the pasta mixture to an oven proof dish or split equally between ramekins for a starter. Dot the extra butter over the top of the pasta.

Cover with as much Parmesan as possible and bake for around 15 mins or until the Parmesan has formed a light brown crust. Serve with salad and bread if its your main course.

Really good with Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc as thoroughly researched on Saturday night.