This quick and easy pasta recipe is a regular week night supper in my home – If you prep all of the ingredients before you start cooking, the sauce can be made in the time it takes to cook the pasta. It is another great dish for using up leftovers. Add other vegetables to the sauce if they need using up, or replace ingredients you don’t have with something similar; it will still be delicious. See the tips below for suggestions.
TIPS
The pork could be replaced with gammon or roast pork, just skip the initial step of frying the meat
If you have some sausages that need eating up, sausage meat is another good alternative. Squeeze the sausage meat out of the skins (about three sausages is plenty), then fry, breaking it up into small pieces as you go.
If you don’t have leeks, use a large onion, diced, instead.
Try adding other vegetables such as peppers, spinach, green beans, runner beans or fennel. This is great if you have odd bits of unused veg left over from other recipes.
Replace the water with white wine If you have a bottle open.
Use whatever pasta shape you prefer – I like fusilli because the sauce coats it really well but anything will work.
Quick and Easy Pasta with Pork, Peas, Leeks and Mushrooms
Ingredients
1 large leek, trimmed, cleaned, halved lengthways then sliced thinly.
100g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
400g pork steaks, cut into 2x2cm pieces
400g fusilli
2tbsp tomato purée
3tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp dried oregano
250ml water
50g frozen peas
4tbsp crème fraiche
Salt and pepper to season
Parmesan and fresh herbs (optional) for garnish
Method
Prepare the leeks, mushrooms and pork then set aside. Get a large pan of water on the boil, salt generously and put the pasta in.
Season the pork with salt. Then, over a medium high heat, fry until golden brown. Remove from the pan and leave to rest.
Turn down the heat slightly, then add the leeks, stirring regularly until soft. Add the tomato purée and cook for 2 minutes, before adding the mushrooms, and frying for another minute.
Return the pork to the pan and add the paprika and oregano. Combine then add about 2/3 of the water. Turn down to a simmer. If the pan starts to look dry add a little more water.
When the pasta is nearly cooked, add the peas to the sauce, stir then add the crème fraiche. Warm through, taste and season with salt and pepper.
Strain the pasta and combine with the sauce. Serve immediately topped with grated parmesan and fresh herbs, if you wish.
This recipe is something that I came up with one evening when I was eating alone – I simply threw some of my favourite things together, including some amazing shmeji mushrooms from Forest Fungi. My first attempt was a little too salty, but the recipe below is the tweaked and (hopefully) improved version. I have also scaled the original recipe up to feed 2 people, but I would advise against trying to double it up to feed four – the pan will likely lose its heat and you will end up with a stew rather than a stir-fry. Save this one for a cosy date-night!
Tips: The quantities in this recipe do not need to be followed precisely. If you buy a bunch of spring onions and there is 7 in there? Chuck them all in. Can’t find exactly 300g of steak? A little bit more or less won’t make a lot of difference. In particular check the quantity of oyster sauce that you use – I have found that some varieties are much saltier than others so when you make the marinade, check the seasoning before using it. For this recipe I used Blue Dragon Oyster Sauce due to its wide availability (most supermarkets).
If you can’t get your hands on shmeji mushrooms, you could use oyster or shiitake mushrooms instead.
For the stir-fry:
300g rump steak
150g shmeji mushrooms
6 spring onions
75g curly kale
3 tbsp water (if needed)
Fresh coriander to garnish
Method
Finely chop the chilli and place into a glass bowl with all the other marinade ingredients. Mix together and taste. If it tastes too sour add a little more oyster sauce. If it is too salty add a little more tamarind. Thinly slice the steak and add to the marinade, stir to ensure the meat is coated and leave on the side, covered, for twenty minutes.
While the steak is marinating, prepare the vegetables. Separate the mushrooms and brush off any dirt. Slice the spring onions lengthways, then slice thinly on the diagonal. Lastly remove any stems from the kale and chop the leaves into bitesize pieces. Keep these ready for when you start cooking
Heat a large wok over a high heat. When it is smoking hot, add a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil. Once the oil is hot, lift the meat out of the marinade and place it into the wok. Do so gently as it will spit. Stir-fry for two minutes or until the meat is just coloured, then add the mushrooms, spring onions, kale and any remaining marinade and fry for a minute or two more. If the pan starts to get too dry, add the water – once the kale softens it is ready.
Garnish with fresh coriander and serve with boiled rice and steamed tenderstem broccoli, which is especially good if dressed with a little sesame oil and soy sauce once cooked.
I haven’t always appreciated how lucky I am to live in Devon. In fact I moved away for over 10 years, adamant I would never return; but when I did, I fell in love with the county in a way I wouldn’t have believed was possible. One of the things that I really love, as a foodie, is the amazing variety of magnificent produce that can be found right on our doorstep. It is easy, however, through habit, convenience, or shortness of time and budget, to rely on supermarkets for so much of what we eat. That is why I have set out to find local producers who are offering products worth spending a little more time and money on.
Forest Fungi are definitely a fitting company to begin my journey with. I had come across their mushrooms at Dart’s Farm and been really impressed by the variety and freshness of the product, but it was at this year’s Exeter Food Festival that they really caught my attention. In a sea of craft gin and micro-brewed ale their stall held the most enticing array of fungi – a fact not lost on the horde of other shoppers I had to fight through. I knew that when I launched this blog, I would have to find out more about what they do.
And what a time I chose to get in touch. This year has seen the business develop new grow space ‘The Shroom Rooms’ that will be open to the public by the time you are reading this, and I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek ahead of the opening, as well as a chance to meet the team behind these magnificent mushrooms.
I was introduced to Dave who was busy cropping in one of the new rooms and he talked me through the new space. Using an old bungalow that has been gathering dust for many years (I’m told it had a lot of 70s styling still in place), they have stripped out much of the old interior to create a central atrium, with four grow rooms off the main space. All of these rooms have glass doors so you can see the various mushrooms as they grow. On the walls in both the atrium and the grow rooms are information boards explaining the science behind the life cycle of a mushroom, details about specific varieties of mushroom (including how to use them in the kitchen), and a bit of history about the company. I won’t go into detail about the boards here – go and have a look for yourself!
The new grow rooms at Forest Fungi
Dave tells me there are currently 9 different varieties they are growing; some will be familiar, like Shiitake and Oyster, while others such as Hen-of-the-woods and Nameko are likely to prove less well known. I was particularly fascinated by the Nameko mushroom. It grows with a slimy, gelatinous coating, making it rather unpleasant to eat raw (I was also advised against pickling it – apparently it just gets slimier), but great for use in soups, casseroles and stews, where it will help thicken the soup or sauce and provide a flavour similar to cashew. This is where opening the grow rooms comes in to its own. It provides the team at Forest Fungi a wonderful opportunity to educate, encourage and inspire their customers. If I were to simply see these slimy ‘shrooms on a shelf, I would probably walk right by. Now I am busy pondering recipes I could use them in, confident that I understand how to get the most out of the ingredient.
Pink and Yellow Oyster mushrooms, thriving in their new home
Of course there are details about the business that you won’t find out by reading the signs. But everyone I spoke to was happy to tell me anything I asked about. For example, Shiitakes continue to be grown in the original grow room. There are two reasons for this. Firstly they grow very successfully in that space which is large enough to meet demand (currently). Secondly, when they are harvested, a reddish brown liquid is released from the substrate on which the mushrooms are grown. In the old grow room, which does not have the pristine white walls and visitor-friendly glass doors of its newer sibling, this isn’t much of an issue; the mess can be hosed down and washed away. In the new space I’m told, ‘it looked like we had committed several murders.’ You may think that peeking behind the curtain in this way could be off-putting but for me it was exactly the opposite. Not only did my experience give me a great look at how the mushrooms are grown but also who is growing them. And what I saw was a group of people who care about and love what they do.
After Dave gave me the tour, I spoke with Scott who founded the company 5 years ago. His passion for the business and for the product is palpable. At present they supply between 40 and 50 restaurants, but their own farm shop and café remains the biggest customer, in part due to Scott’s determination to maintain control of the quality of the product that is available, and in part due to how successful the shop and café are. The hope is that the new grow rooms will provide another reason for people to visit the farm and, to my mind, they certainly do that.
During our conversation, Scott spoke about plans for further developments down the line. There is still some unused space on the site which could be used for additional growing space, or as a way of extending the café. Having purchased the site this year (they have been renting since 2013), there was a real sense of excitement surrounding what the future of the business could be. But this is not driven by corporate greed; It is very clear that Scott knows it is the people and the product that have made Forest Fungi a success so far, and he has no intention of losing sight of that. There is a willingness to adapt the business to best meet challenges and take advantage of opportunities, while maintaining the ethos that the company was founded on and an unflinching position on quality. As Scott put it, ‘There is a concrete plan, but it does change.’
If you have even the slightest interest in mushrooms, I cannot recommend strongly enough that you head down to Dawlish Warren and take a look for yourself. Even if you don’t, they could probably convert you! The team there are happy to help you choose the right mushroom for whatever you are trying to create if you have a dish in mind, or will suggest recipes you can try.
The café and farm shop are open year round and offer a great range of products from local producers as well as their mushrooms. There are also regular stalls at various farmer’s markets and festivals around the county, if Dawlish is a bit out of your way.
The Shroom Rooms will be open for viewing from this weekend (25/08/2018) and entry is free.
During my visit to Forest Fungi earlier this week, I had to find out what their recommendations were for mushroom dishes. Jess was kind enough to share the following two recipes with me. If you are inspired by these, head on down to their farm shop and café in Dawlish Warren to get hold of the star ingredients, and perhaps get some more ideas from the extensive list of mushroom dishes on the cafe menu.
Given the name of this site, I figured it was about time I got a toast based recipe up here. This dish was inspired by some gorgeous shimeji mushrooms from Forest Fungi that I picked up at The Exeter Food Festival but could be prepared using any fresh mushrooms you can get your hands on. It is also ridiculously quick to throw together. Just make sure you have everything ready to go before you start cooking, because it all comes together in minutes.
TIPS:
A fairly dense bread works best as the moisture from the mushrooms will quickly soften your toast if you use something too soft. I used a spelt and sunflower loaf that I got from Sainsbury’s which kept its texture brilliantly.
Shimeji mushrooms are well worth finding, but if you use something else, you may need to adjust the cooking times slightly. The bigger the pieces, the longer they will probably need. (For the photo, I actually bulked the dish out a bit with oyster mushrooms because I was a little short).
Try replacing the paprika with a spoonful of chopped tarragon. This will give the dish a fresh, aniseed flavour that works brilliantly with mushrooms.
Ingredients
30g unsalted Butter
1 large clove garlic
100g white shimeji mushrooms (or what you can get – see above)
¼ tsp smoked paprika
Salt and pepper
1 medium egg
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 or 2 slices of good quality bread
Butter for spreading.
Flat-leaf parsley for garnish (optional)
Method
Get a pan of water boiling for poaching the egg. Keep at a low boil until ready to use.
To cook the mushrooms: Put the butter into a frying pan over a med-high heat and heat until foaming. Turn the temperature down slightly, add the garlic, peeled and partially crushed with the flat of your knife, and allow it to infuse into the butter for a minute or so.
While the garlic is infusing is a good time to get the toast on. Cook to your own liking!
Turn the heat back up to med-high. Add the mushrooms into the frying pan and stir to ensure they are all evenly coated in butter. Leave to fry unmolested for a minute, shake them up again then give them another minute or so. Add the paprika, and season with salt and pepper.
To poach the egg: As soon as the mushrooms are in the frying pan, break the egg into a ramekin and add the vinegar to the boiling water. Stir the water to create a whirlpool in the centre of the pan, then gently pour the egg into the centre. Leave to poach for 2-3 minutes – as soon as the white is even coloured and opaque it is cooked. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon and leave on the spoon to drain, until ready to serve.
Finally, butter the toast and place it on a plate, pile the mushrooms on the toast then top it all off with the poached egg. Finish with a little black pepper, a pinch more paprika and some chopped, flatleaf parsley if you want. Eat immediately.
