Ingredients
500g Pasta - I Used Small Shells 3 Large Flat Mushrooms 6 Slices Of Free Range Middle Bacon Rashers - Most of the Fat Removed 1/2 Fresh Onion 2 Spring Onions Basil Sauce 250ml of the Pasta's cooking water 250ml Milk 2 Tbsp Olive Oil 1 Tbsp Flour 1/2 Cup Freshly Grated Parmesan + A Little Sprinkle For The Top 1/2 Cup Freshly Grated Provolone
Method Preheat your oven to 250c. Boil your salted water for the pasta and cook when ready. Slice up all your vegetables & bacon, then add your onions and basil to a pan with a little oil, cook till softened and add the mushrooms and bacon. Season.
When they're cooked turn off the heat and leave them in the pan.
Once the pastas al dente, drain it but keep about 500ml in a jug for the sauce. Add your pasta to the bacon and mushrooms and mix.
In the pot where the pasta was cooking add the oil, then the flour, mix with a whisk. You want the flour mixture to be a wet paste and sticking together, if its too dry add a little more oil.
Cook for a minute on a medium heat to cook the raw flour taste away, make sure you keep stirring it.
Add 250ml of the pasta water and the milk and keep stirring. The mixture will start to thicken.
Once it's thickened, add the Parmesan and Provolone. Taste and season, you want to add a good amount of pepper.
If the sauce is too thick add a little more water. If its too thin (which it won't be) let it cook a little more. You want the sauce to be the consistency of unset custard, this way it will coat the pasta, remain creamy, but still thicken a little once its goes in the oven.
Add the sauce to the pasta mix and combine, check for seasoning again.
Put the mixture into a dish and into the oven, uncovered for about 10 minutes. Then change your oven to the grill setting, add a little bit of Parmesan on top and cook for a further 5 minutes till browned and crispy. Let the whole dish sit for 5-10 minutes.
Enjoy x
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