Tagliatelles à la crème aux champignons

This is a recipe I am inordinately proud of, and is one that I have been making for years, I started this website partially so that I would have somewhere to write down all the recipes I have developed and honed over all the years. This is one of my favorites, and it tastes incredibly luxurious despite being incredibly simple to make.

Start by wiping and chopping your mushrooms, don't wet them or they will be slimy. Cooking mushrooms is incredibly simple yet it is so often done badly, there are a few simple rules, firstly don't crowd them, or they won't brown, secondly always cook them in butter, as olive oil has too brusque a flavour and will overpower the delicate mushrooms, finally never salt them until they have finished cooking, if you season them too soon they will ooze out all their water, and will be slimy.

Put a large knob of butter in a cold heavy based frying pan and crush in two cloves of garlic, heat gently until the butter melts and add the chopped mushrooms, stirring to coat them in the butter, they will give out some liquid as you cook them, and when this liquid has been soaked back up, add a small glass of white vermouth to the pan. Stir over a high heat until all the vermouth has evaporated.

Start cooking your pasta, I like to use fresh tagliatelle. Then add 400ml of single cream, and stir to combine, simmer it for a few minutes and season with salt and pepper, and a little parsley if desired. Turn off the heat and add some grated parmesan to taste, stir in the cheese until the sauce is smooth. Drain the pasta and top with the cream sauce, stir so that the sauce is well distributed through the pasta and serve garnished with chopped parsley.

ingredients

400g fresh tagliatelle
300g mushrooms
400ml single cream
small glass white vermouth
grated parmesan, to taste
small knob butter
salt & pepper
chopped parsley, to garnish