Gramigna con panna, funghi e noci

Gramigna is a type of pasta usually found in Emilia Romagna. Shaped like curls, it comes in different sizes and sometimes is green (or mixed, like here). It requires a 'heavy' or creamy sauce, so it is common to see it with bolognese sauce or sausage and cream or similar. It is not my favourite pasta, but every now and them I would have it, and my vegetarian suggestion is to serve it with a creamy mushroom sauce. 

Soak some dried porcini mushrooms, clean and slice some fresh mushrooms. 

Pan fry the fresh mushrooms with a little butter, then add the porcini mushrooms and their soaking water, plus  half an organic vegetable stock cube, if you are cooking for 2, or a whole one, if you are cooking for 4. When all the water has been absorbed add 100-200 ml of cream and a handful of walnut kernels, and cook for five more minutes. Finely chop a peeled garlic clove with a handful of Italian parsley (adding a pinch of salt too to aid the chopping). Add to the sauce. Finish with black pepper and then dress the pasta. If too dry add more cream. In Italy the cream for pasta is thick and mixes well, in NZ we only have one type of cream, rich but very liquid, the important thing is to make sure that the result is not too watery. Serve with grated Parmigiano Reggiano and accompany with Lambrusco or Pignoletto wine.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©