Make Joe Trivelli’s porcini penne

Name: Make Joe Trivelli’s porcini penne
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: Serves 2
Ingredients: 2 garlic cloves1 celery stick, cut into 1cm slices10g dried porcini1 parsley sprig180g pennette1 pinch of saffron frondsKnob of butter (optional)50g grated parmesanSea salt, black pepper and olive oil

After a primi piatto? This game-changing pasta recipe, flavoured with porcini mushrooms, cooks the penne directly in the pan for a rich, indulgent texture

Joe Trivelli's porcini penne

Matt Russell

Published: Thursday 14th February 2019

Vegetarian

Serves 2

Preparation time 5 Minutes

Cooking time 20 Minutes

This primi piatto of pasta's beautiful, using dried porcini mushrooms and a simple but dazzlingly effective cooking method: “A late convert to cooking pasta like risotto, I love the way the starch in the pasta can thicken into a sauce,” says Trivelli. “It is possible to add nothing more than oil."

If you're a new convert to cooking pasta like a risotto, welcome to a new way of life...

Ingredients

2 garlic cloves
1 celery stick, cut into 1cm slices
10g dried porcini
1 parsley sprig
180g pennette
1 pinch of saffron fronds
Knob of butter (optional)
50g grated parmesan
Sea salt, black pepper and olive oil

Method

Bring 3 litres of water to the boil with the garlic cloves, celery, porcini and parsley, plus a pinch of salt. Allow to simmer until the garlic is very soft, about 10–15 minutes.
Add the pasta and saffron.
Simmer and keep stirring so the pasta cooks evenly. It should take a minute or two longer than it would normally. The idea is for almost all of the liquid to evaporate evenly as the pasta cooks. It is better to keep the pan on the dry side and turn the pasta over in order to cook uniformly than have it too wet. Add a ladleful of water from time to time if needed.
When thick and cooked add a drizzle of oil, or indeed a knob of butter if you’d rather, and the cheese and stir. Allow to sit for 3 minutes with a lid on before serving so that the sauce finishes thickening and soaks even more into the penne.

From The Modern Italian Cook by Joe Trivelli; photography by Matt Russell. Published by Seven Dials.