Any pasta will work in this as it’s all about balancing those vinegar caramelised mushrooms with the creamy whipped ricotta that the pasta sits on. All this is tied together with the peppery rocket to contrast the rich ricotta and it’s a dream. Light enough for spring while still taking advantage of the amazing mushrooms around at the moment.

The roast garlic whipped ricotta is oh so dreamy. In a hot oven you can roast garlic in 20-30 mins so if the first thing you do is toss it in the oven, by the time you’re ready to serve your pasta the garlic will be ready to blitz with the ricotta.

By piling the pasta on top of the ricotta you can then stir it through at your leisure, swiping the mushrooms and noodles through the ricotta to make a creamy dish, if you want it less creamy put less ricotta on the base.

I used brown mushrooms in this dish but you could easily use a medley or just cup or button, whatever you can get your hands on. The recipe calls for you to roast more garlic than you need as it’s a great thing to have in the fridge and use in the base of sauces in place of raw garlic. It’s a game changer.

Serves 2

Ingredients

8 cloves garlic (you’ll only need 1)

250g fettuccine, tagliatelle or similar

1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

1 Tbs fresh thyme

250g brown mushrooms, or what you have!

1 Tbs balsamic vinegar

pinch of salt

1 cup baby rocket

170g ricotta

1 tbs chives, or spring onion (optional)

squeeze of lemon juice

Parmesan to serve.

Directions

Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius fan forced. Place garlic cloves in a small tray, with skin on, roast for 20-30 minutes or until softened and caramelised.

Meanwhile prepare mushrooms by cleaning with a damp tea towel to remove dirt and then slicing into 4mm thick slices.

Bring a large pot of water to the boil and once boiling add salt and the pasta. Cook according to instructions then drain and reserve 1/4 cup cooking water.

While the pasta is cooking place a medium pan on medium high heat. Once hot add oil, thyme and mushrooms cook, stirring frequently for 10 minutes or until softened and starting to colour, add the balsamic and cook for a few more minutes. Season with salt then toss the pasta through these adding just enough cooking water to coat the pasta, add extra oil if you like.

Turn off the heat. But leave in your warm pan while you whip the ricotta. Place ricotta in a small food processor with a squeeze of lemon and one squeezed roasted garlic clove as well as the chives if using, blitz until smooth and combined. Divide between your plates. Toss the rocket through the pasta and place this on top of the ricotta, serve with Parmesan and black pepper over top.

HH. x