Bucatini with mushrooms & sausage

This pays homage to some of the delicious pastas I’ve eaten across Umbria, where mushrooms and sausages are king. It also highlights the power of dried porcini stock.

SERVES 4 PREP 5 mins COOK 22 mins EASY

20g dried porcini mushrooms 3 tbsp olive oil

4 large sausages, such as Italian or Cumberland (if using Cumberland, add a pinch of fennel seeds to the meat while cooking) 400g bucatini

4 garlic cloves, sliced

1-2 tsp chilli flakes

125ml white wine

150ml double cream grating of nutmeg large handful of flat-leaf parsley,

roughly chopped parmesan, grated, to serve 1 Tip the dried porcini mushrooms into a large pan with 600ml boiling water from the kettle. Set over a low heat and simmer for 10-15 mins until slightly reduced to make an intense mushroom stock.

2 Heat the the oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Squeeze the sausagemeat from the skins into the pan and fry for 5-8 mins, breaking it up with a wooden spoon as it cooks, until lightly browned.

3 Meanwhile, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Drop in the bucatini and move it around using tongs to prevent it sticking together. Cook for 9 mins. Meanwhile, add the garlic and chilli flakes to the sausagemeat and fry for 1 min before pouring in the wine. Cook for 5 mins more until the wine has reduced, then tip in the rehydrated mushrooms and the stock (you should have about 350ml). Season with salt and black pepper, then bring to a simmer.

4 After roughly 9 mins, use the tongs to move the bucatini directly from its cooking water into the mushroom sauce. The mixture will seem quite watery at first, but the trick is to finish cooking the bucatini by simmering it in the broth – it will soak it all up and take on the earthy flavour. Keep moving the pasta in the broth using the tongs for 3 mins, or until most of the water has been absorbed. Stir in the cream, a grating of nutmeg and the parsley. Stir well, taste for seasoning and serve topped with lots of parmesan.

PER SERVING 794 kcals • fat 40g • saturates 18g •

carbs 80g • sugars 4g • fibre 5g • protein 21g •

salt 0.7g