Gustible - under the rubric of [$_SELF]

Just made this dish – but unfortunately i forgot to take picture before we ate it all. Here’s the recipe anyway.

The recipe is for Penne pasta with mushrooms, baby tomatoes and ham. The sauce is fairly dry, but quite delicious – it is a new creation but worked out very well. Here goes:

You need:

• Penne pasta – up to 500 gram for three to four hungry people. Dried or fresh.
• Traditional style ham (not the pink stuff) – three or four slices
• Baby tomatoes – ten or twelve of them. Ripe and sweet.
• Fresh rosemary
• Goat’s milk cheese (just a little bit)
• Fresh chillies (as many as you like)
• Oyster mushrooms, sliced (I suppose you can use other types, but needs to be firm and fairly mildly flavoured)
• Bit of butter to fry the mushrooms
• Garlic (as you like … if you don’t like, go away please)
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper as you like and when you like

Start cooking the penne – it should take 8 to 10 minutes, and by the time the pasta is done, you will be done with the sauce (don’t overcook: al dente, or start over).

Slice the baby tomatoes in half. Fry in a LITTLE bit of olive oil in a non-stick pan together with the chopped garlic, chillies and rosemary (don’t let the tomatoes get mushy – they still need to be firm). Basically just dry fry them – you really use very little oil here. Also – watch your eyes with the chillies…when you dry fry them like this, they tend to give off clouds of methyl vanillyl nonenamide which rather strains the mucous membranes. As soon as the tomatoes start softening, remove them from the heat and set aside.

Heat the butter in a non-stick pan, and as soon as it starts bubbling, place the sliced oyster mushrooms in the pan. Cook till the mushrooms soften. Add the sliced ham, fry till heated through. Add the crumbled goat’s milk cheese, and stir till melted. Remove from the heat.

Get the cooked pasta into a bowl. Add the mushroom mixture. Mix into the pasta. Place the tomato mxiture on top, and gently mix into the pasta (don’t crush the tomato halves!). Glug some olive oil over the pasta, mix again. Eat.

I like mine with plenty of chillies. The sweet tomatoes give a great contrast, and the oyster ‘shrooms and goat’s milk cheese like each other a lot.