Penne with porcini cream

• By Mark Camilleri

Bernard Muscat's wine recommendation: try a creamy white wine or a red wine that is low in tannins, like Dolcetto D’Alba DOC (2003) by Fontanafredda, from Wands.

For 6 people, you will need:

80g of dried porcini mushrooms, 60g of oyster mushrooms (chopped), 40g of Portobello mushrooms (chopped), 40g of button mushrooms (chopped), 200ml of double cream, 60ml of white wine, salt and pepper, 60g of Parmesan cheese, two cloves of garlic (peeled and minced), one onion (peeled and finely chopped), fresh parsley (chopped), 750g of penne pasta, porcini oil.

Soak the porcini mushrooms for 15 to 20 minutes, in hot water until they are soft. Remove them from the bowl but keep the water. Bring a pot of salted water to the boil, for cooking the pasta. Meanwhile, fry the garlic and onion in olive oil until soft and golden, add all the mushrooms and fry them. Pour in the wine and let it evaporate over the heat. Pour in some of the porcini water and let it simmer until it has reduced. Stir in the cream and let it reduce slightly. Cook the pasta until it is al dente, then stir it into the mushroom sauce over the heat. Stir in the Parmesan cheese. Drizzle it with porcini oil, garnish it with parsley, grind over some pepper and serve it at once.