Charred mushroom and black pepper pappardelle

Serves - 4

You’ll need

• 300g pappardelle
• 500g mushrooms, a mix of chestnut, portobello or oyster if you like, roughly sliced or torn
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 25g butter
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 150ml double cream
• 40g Parmesan or vegetarian hard cheese, finely grated, plus extra to serve
• 1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper, plus extra to taste
• Small handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• Zest of ½ lemon
• Sea salt

Method

1. Get the mushrooms going

Heat a large frying pan over a fairly high heat. Add 1 tbsp of the olive oil and half the mushrooms, then cook without fussing too much for 4–5 minutes until they are nicely charred and any moisture has cooked off. Give them a stir, cook for another minute or two, then tip them out onto a plate. Repeat with the remaining olive oil and mushrooms. Do not crowd the pan or they will steam and sulk rather than colour properly.

2. Start the sauce

Turn the heat down to medium and add the butter to the same pan. Once melted, add the garlic and cracked black pepper and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute, just until fragrant. You want it smelling promising, not scorched.

3. Cook the pasta

While that is happening, bring a large pan of well-salted water to the boil and cook the pappardelle until al dente. Before draining, save a mug of the pasta water. It nearly always earns its keep.

4. Bring everything together

Pour the cream into the mushroom pan and let it bubble gently for 2 minutes. Stir in the Parmesan, then add the mushrooms back in along with most of the parsley and the lemon zest. Add the drained pappardelle and toss everything together, loosening with a splash of the pasta water until the sauce clings nicely to the pasta rather than sitting heavily around it.

5. Taste and adjust

Have a taste and add more black pepper if it needs it, along with a little salt if necessary. The cheese will already be doing some of the work, so do not go charging in too quickly.

6. Serve

Divide between warm bowls and finish with extra Parmesan, the rest of the parsley and one last grind of black pepper. Serve straight away while the mushrooms are still full of savoury depth and the sauce still feels silky.

A couple of helpful notes

- A mix of mushrooms gives the best flavour and texture, but using one good variety is absolutely fine.
- If you want it a little lighter, you can swap some of the cream for a splash more pasta water, though the full version is very hard to argue with.
- A handful of wilted spinach stirred in at the end works well if you want to nudge in something green.