Did I say spring?

Yep, I did, but actually the evenings are still cold, some days are cold, most are wet!!!

And then there is this dust cloud, my husband couldn't fly to London for the Book Fair on Saturday, but in a way I was happy: many of our friends are stranded in other continents, and unable to get home, it would have been worst if he was stuck there instead. I really feel for all those travelers, being so often one of them, and unsure about our own future plans now.

So, more evenings at home with the family, and more 'wintery' food on the stove.

Polenta with mushrooms

I discovered frozen mixed mushrooms (apparently with some pieces of porcini in it, but I couldn’t see many). In any case, unable to forage now, these looked good to me.

I used a 300g bag of mixed mushrooms

30g dried porcini mushrooms,

a few garlic cloves

olive oil

tomato passata

salt

The dried porcini mushrooms need to be soaked for a an hour or so.

Sauté the garlic with the olive oil, add the frozen mushrooms, and after five minutes the porcini mushrooms and their soaking water. Add the tomato passata (about a cup) and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir often and add water if necessary. Add salt to taste.

I served these mushrooms with polenta, and then, since I had a few left over, I made some pasta the day after.

I heard from other bloggers about the Garofalo brand, in NZ I could only find it in one shop, and it was too expensive even to consider, so I thought that I should try it while I am in Italy. I choose mezze maniche for this dish.

Mezze maniche with mushrooms

I cooked the mezze maniche al dente. In the meantime I warmed up the pan with the left-over mushrooms and added 250 ml of cream. Then I added some freshly chopped Italian parsley and some freshly ground pepper. I drained the mezze maniche and passed them in the pan with the mushroom and cream sauce. They tasted great!

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini©