Pistou Linguine

Ingredients

  • 300g (11oz) linguine pasta
  • 25g (1oz) butter
  • 500g (1lb 2oz) chestnut mushrooms, sliced
  • 75g (3oz) Parmesan cheese, grated


FOR THE PISTOU SAUCE

  • 4 tbsp roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • 4 tbsp roughly chopped basil
  • 2 tbsp roughly snipped chives
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed Juice of 1 lemon (see tip)
  • 200g (7oz) full-fat crème fraîche
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pistou Linguine

Pistou is a classic Provençal sauce made of basil, garlic and oil, similar to pesto but without the pine nuts and Parmesan.

SERVES: 4 – 6 as a main dish
COOK TIME: 10 minutes

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. To make the pistou sauce, place the herbs, garlic, lemon juice and crème fraîche in a food processor and whizz until the herbs are finely chopped. Season well with salt and pepper.

  2. Cook the linguine in boiling salted water according to the packet instructions, then drain, reserving 2 tablespoons of the pasta cooking water (see tip).

  3. While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a deep frying pan, add the mushrooms and fry over a high heat for about 1–2 minutes. Cover with a lid and cook over a low heat for 3 minutes, then remove the lid and fry over a high heat until golden and all the liquid has evaporated. Spoon the mushrooms into a bowl.

  4. Add the pistou sauce and the reserved pasta water to the frying pan and heat until just boiling. Tip in the cooked pasta, season with salt and pepper and toss until coated and warmed through. Remove from the heat, add most of the Parmesan and mushrooms and toss to combine.

  5. Tip into a bowl, scatter with the remaining Parmesan and mushrooms and taste for seasoning.


TO PREPARE AHEAD: The pistou sauce can be made up to a day ahead and kept in the fridge.


MARY's CLASSIC TIPS:

  • Roll the lemon on a board before squeezing to get the most juice from it.
  • The Parmesan really thickens the sauce so it coats the pasta. For a thinner sauce, reserve some extra pasta water and add more than 2 tablespoons in step 4.

This recipe is taken from: Classic