MOB Kitchen Lemony Carbonara

Course: main

Skill level: easy

Serves: 4

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 450 g (1 lb) conchiglie 5 eggs, separated (save the whites for another recipe)

50 g (1¾ oz) Parmesan, grated

50g (1¾ oz) Pecorino, grated

1 lemon, zest and juice 20 g (¾ oz) butter

400 g (14 oz) chestnut mushrooms, quartered 4 cloves garlic, chopped finely

Handful of thyme, stripped to give 1 tbs leaves Handful of parsley, chopped finely

1 Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil, then season liberally with salt. Add your pasta and cook according to packet instructions, until al dente.

2 In a medium-sized bowl, place the egg yolks, Parmesan, Pecorino and lemon zest. Add in lots of black pepper, then stir to combine.

3 Heat a large saucepan over a medium-high heat. Add a large knob of butter to the pan and, once melted, tip in your mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms have released their liquid and started to caramelise. Add the garlic and thyme and cook for a minute, ensuring the mixture doesn’t burn.

4 Drain your pasta, reserving the pasta water, then tip the pasta into the mushroom mixture along with a ladle of pasta water and toss together so that the mixture is totally combined. Turn the heat off in your pan, then add your egg mixture. Mix together in the pan, letting the residual heat from the pasta cook your egg mixture until you have a silky pasta that coats each shell, adding more pasta water where needed.

5 Add a handful of chopped parsley and a squeeze of lemon juice, then give it one last stir.

6 Serve topped with more freshly ground black pepper and some Parmesan.