Penne with truffled mushroom sauce

This pasta dish takes very little time to prepare. Put the water on to boil with a lid on asap. Salt it after it’s come to a boil, then dump the penne in. Now start on the sauce. You’ll be eating in 12 minutes.

Penne with truffled mushroom sauce (serves 2)

200g penne pasta (the boxes I buy are 450, so I use about 1/2 a box.

1 tbsp olive oil

2 cups of mushrooms (a wild mushroom mixture or a box of crimini would be nice)

1 medium onion

1 plump clove of garlic

1 glass of white wine

½ cup of cream

1 tsp truffle oil

Salt and pepper

Parmesan

• Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Salt it and add the penne. Cook for 1 minute less than the box instructions so that it is al dente.
• Meanwhile, dice the onion and fry in 1 tbsp olive oil
• Wipe then slice the mushrooms and add to the onion
• Once the mushrooms are brown, season with salt and pepper and grate in the clove of garlic
• Pour in 1 glass of white wine and scrape up the brown bits from the pan into a sauce
• Add the ½ cup of cream and the tsp of truffle oil (taste the sauce – sometimes truffle oil loses its flavor if it’s been in on a shelf for a while, in which case, add a bit more)
• Drain the pasta and toss with the sauce
• Grate over a generous amount of parmesan and some fresh black pepper

Serve with a green salad (from a packet) and a balsamic vinaigrette.

This originally appeared in a post about the dangers of kissing in a New York park and the court case that ensued.