Pasta with Lemon, Garlic & Mushrooms

Pasta Creation (Oct 2011)

I've always been fascinated by Nigella Lawson from her Nigella Bites & Nigella Feasts series. With some of her recipes readily available on her website, I quickly tried out some pasta dishes. This is actually the first of her linguine recipes!

I made this pasta for Darren's 9th birthday party. It seemed to compliment the meat dishes that I was serving. I adapted most part of the recipe except that I made do with spaghetti instead of linguine. I'd encourage you to try different kinds of fresh mushrooms that you may find in your local markets.

Pasta with Lemon, Garlic & Mushroom Recipe
Ingredients:
1 packet of pasta
A punnet fresh mushrooms
80ml extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
1 small clove garlic, crushed
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
4 sprigs of fresh thyme, stripped to give 1 teaspoon leaves (Otherwise make do with dried thyme)
1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
2-3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan, or to taste
Freshly ground pepper 

Method:

1. Slice the mushrooms finely, and put in a large bowl with the oil, salt, crushed garlic, lemon juice and zest, and thyme leaves.
2. Cook the pasta according to packet instructions and drain loosely, retaining some water. Quickly put the drained pasta into the bowl with the mushroom mixture.
3. Toss everything together well, then add the chopped parsley, grated cheese and pepper to taste, before tossing again.