When I made Mary Berry’s pistou linguine, I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did.
As soon as I took one bite of the pasta dish, I felt enamoured by its citrusy and cheesy flavour.
Let me put it this way, if I was served the pistou linguine I made at a restaurant, I would be very happy indeed.
While the taste was phenomenal, the dish only took 10 minutes to prepare, which means this is definitely going to be a meal I make again (and again).
Next time, I will use fresh herbs (as instructed) instead of dried herbs, and I can only imagine it will taste even better.
Pistou linguine
Ingredients
- 300g linguine pasta
- 25g butter
- 500g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
- 75g Parmesan cheese, grated
For the pistou sauce
- Four tbsp roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley
- Four tbsp roughly chopped basil
- Two tbsp roughly snipped chives
- Two garlic cloves, crushed
- Juice of one lemon
- 200g full-fat crème fraîche
- Salt and black pepper
Method
To make the pistou sauce
Place the herbs, garlic, lemon juice and crème fraîche in a food processor and whizz until the herbs are finely chopped. Season well with salt and pepper.
Cook the linguine in boiling salted water according to the packet instructions, then drain, reserving two tablespoons of the pasta cooking water.
While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a deep frying pan, add the mushrooms and fry over a high heat for about one to two minutes.
Cover with a lid and cook over a low heat for three minutes, then remove the lid and fry over a high heat until golden and all the liquid has evaporated. Spoon the mushrooms into a bowl.
Add the pistou sauce and the reserved pasta water to the frying pan and heat until just boiling.
Tip in the cooked pasta, season with salt and pepper and toss until coated and warmed through. Remove from the heat, add most of the Parmesan and mushrooms and toss to combine.
Tip into a bowl, scatter with the remaining Parmesan and mushrooms and taste for seasoning.
