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Pine Nut and Mushroom Pasta

This was a real cupboard creation, I ate so much cheese over Christmas I was craving a sauce for pasta and wanted something different to the usual tomato or cheese based ones. So I took some queues from a pesto but replaced the parmesan with a whole load more pine nuts and added a Spanish feel with some smoked paprika.

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The result was a lovely thick sauce that clings to the pasta and adds a lot of earthy flavours that pair so well with mushrooms. It's totally vegan too so that's a bonus but if your not worried about that it also goes well as a sauce for a steak.

Ingredients

Serves 2

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For the sauce

  • 30g pine nuts

  • 1/2 tsp smoked paprika

  • 1 tsp dried parsley

  • 2 large garlic cloves

  • 4 tbsp olive oil

  • pinch of salt and pepper

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For the pasta

  • 150g pasta

  • 200g mixed mushrooms

  • 1 small onion

Method

Ok lets start with the sauce and this couldn't be easier. Just roughly chop the garlic and add with all the other sauce ingredients into a blender (could also be done in a pestle and mortar but I'm lazy). Grind it up until you get it fairly smooth then give it a taste and add salt and pepper as desired. You'll never get it completely smooth but that's fine those little bits of pine nut add a great crunch into the sauce.

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Now put the pasta onto the boil (12-15 mins depending on the pasta you use).

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Finally chop the mushrooms into roughly 1/2 cm slices and slice the onion into small bits. Add both of these to a frying pan with a little olive oil and fry gently until they have all softened. This should take about 8 mins. Don't worry if when they are done before your pasta as the best way is to finish the dish all together in the pan so you can heat it all back through.

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Once the pasta is done add it to the mushrooms and onion and turn on the heat. Mix it well to get all the juices off the bottom of the pan and onto the pasta, then add in the pine nut sauce and mix it through. Once it's heated through just plate up and enjoy.

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