Mushroom, Ricotta and Leek Wholewheat Pasta

Pasta is such a great cupboard item that with a little fairy dust transforms into a delicious, comforting dinner. This particular variety I bought on offer was called Mafalda Corta, which as a rough description as I said to a friend was rectangles with frilly egdes! I am terrible for buying any new pasta I see, even our local Polish shop strangely enough has some great varieties which I am sure will be featuring in the future here! 

I unfortunately regularly work night shifts and do try to have an afternoon nap (though failed today as had late lunch and too much coffee!) which leaves a shorter time for meal prep and this recent pasta dish was quickly assembled in the time it took to cook the pasta - ideal for busy days too! I did admittedly eat it all. And it was huge but it kept me fuelled all night so was ideal - I think it would serve two for lunch next time!

Mushrooms are one of my favourite vegetables but sadly not of my boyfriend and so this dish of pasta was very much all for me! To be honest it was so tasty I wouldn't have wanted to share it anyway! This months Pasta Please #11 challenge is also Mushroom themed so I have sent it over for the round-up!

In my pasta dish I used one of my new favourite cheat items that was leftover from the Chickpea burgers recipe last month in the form of Sundried tomato paste. It seems to keep for ages and is great when you only need a small amount, ideal for when cooking smaller portions and for one! Additionally I tested out Divo Italiano's new vegetarian friendly grated parmesan style cheese which worked really well. I am not vegetarian but make a large amount of veggie food so its good to find something I can recommend as a substitute to regular parmesan! The ready toasted pine nuts are great too for speed, I'd not seen them before but my boyfriends mum left them here and needless to say - this was their last goodbye! A great send-off I think!

Serves One 

Easy

Under 15 minutes

Ingredients

75g Mafalda Corta pasta shapes

1 heaped tbsp ricotta cheese

1 dsp Sundried tomato paste

2 tbsp veggie grated hard cheese

1 scant tbsp butter

1 tsp olive oil

4 large sliced chestnut mushrooms

3 inch portion of leek, halved lengthways and sliced

1 tbsp toasted pine nuts

s&p to taste

1) Start by heating the oil and butter together to a moderate heat and gently fry the mushrooms and leeks. Meanwhile cook the pasta as per packet instructions, mine was 11 minutes.

 2) Once the leeks have softened and the mushrooms lightly browned, stir in the paste and ricotta.

 3) When the pasta has cooked through, add about 1/2 cup of the pasta water to loosen and gently warm through - if like me you have a electric cooker its best to remove from the heat to stir it all together and then place back on the heat to warm through gently. Add more pasta water if you prefer more sauce. Season to taste and add half the cheese and the pinenuts.

 4) Once warmed through, pile onto a plate or pasta bowl and serve immediately and garnish with  the remaining cheese.

Buon appetito!