I’m a sucker for creamy pasta dishes, especially ones that cook in one pot (one pot pastas = silkier sauce and less cleaning!). This dinner is quick and easy to whip up but tastes dreamy.
1. Add half the butter to a large pot (or, if you’re omitting the mushrooms, add the entire reduced amount of butter – see ingredient notes). Put the pot over medium heat until the butter is melted and lightly bubbling.
2. Add the spring onions and garlic, and saute until the spring onions have softened, about 2 minutes.
3. Add the rest of the butter and the mushrooms. Cook, stirring occassionally, until the mushrooms are softened.
1. Add the mustard, salt and pepper, and stir. Then add the stock and half the cream, and bring to a simmer.
2. Add the fettuccine and, for the first few minutes, move it around with a fork and use the fork to break up the pasta strands.
Tip: It’s important to stir the pasta continuously for the first few minutes to avoid the pasta sticking together.
3. Cook the pasta at a simmer for about 20 minutes, until the pasta is al dente. Keep stirring the pasta occassionally and try to make sure that the pasta is mostly covered by the liquid. If the sauce becomes too dry, add a small amount of water.
Tip: Pasta cooked directly in a sauce rather than in boiling water will always take longer to cook than the instructions on the packet state. So it’s important to taste the pasta toward the end of cooking so you know when it’s ‘al dente’ (this translates to ‘to the tooth’, and means the pasta is softened but not soggy, and still has some texture when you bite into it).
4. Add the rest of the cream, parsley and cheese (reserving some for serving), and stir over low heat just until the cheese is melted and the sauce is smooth. It may look like there’s too much sauce, and that’s a good thing! The sauce will thicken very quickly once the heat is turned off.
5. Serve, topped with reserved cheese and garnished with parsley.
To reheat: Can be refrigerated for a few days and reheated. It reheats best on the stovetop over low heat, with a few tablespoons of water added per serve.
6 servings