Bertie's Mushroom Sauce

One of Freddie’s best friends from school is Bertie who is brilliant at loads of things, apart from eating mushrooms. That is, until his mum Natasha created a mushroom pasta sauce and told me about it in the school queue. An essential part of the recipe is not to let the mushroom-hater know it contains mushrooms until after it has been tasted. Freddie ate the first bowl without looking up. Once the first fierce pangs of hunger had gone, he asked for seconds.
“What’s this made of Mum?”
“Mushrooms”, I said as I filled his bowl with a second helping.
"It's one of Bertie's favourite recipes," I added, shamelessly relying on peer pressure.
He was straight on the phone to his friend.
“They tricked me into eating mushrooms. But your sauce was really good. I’m giving it 10 out of 10.”

 

 

Bertie’s Mushroom Pasta Sauce

450g mushrooms
2 generous handfuls of parsley
3 shallots or one medium onion
1 -2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
100 ml double cream or crème fraiche
50g grated parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to season

Serve with spaghetti or linguini pasta

Wash and dry the mushrooms. Chop them roughly. Put them into a large bowl with the chopped parsley, chopped shallots and crushed garlic. Use a blender or hand-blender to turn the mushroom mixture into a mush. At this point start cooking your pasta according to instructions.Back to the mushroom mush, take a large frying pan and heat up the olive oil. Add the mixture to the pan and cook on a medium heat. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon. The mushrooms and shallots will soften and cook. Cook for at least five minutes like this. Turn off the heat. Stir in the crème fraiche or double cream.
When the pasta is al dente, drain away the water. Pour in the mushroom sauce and stir round, coating the pasta thoroughly. Add the parmesan cheese and stir round. Serve.

PS - We would still love to hear your favourite toppings for a flat mushroom.