Campsite cooking: Tagliatelle with mushroom, leek and fennel in a creamy sauce

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Check out the latest Guyrope Gourmet recipe in association with Campingaz. Josh Sutton has an eye on the warm summer months with this recipe for tagliatelle with mushroom, leek and fennel in a creamy sauce

I know we’re just into spring, but I’ve half an eye on summer already and I’m getting excited. That camping trip to South-West France looks like it’s on with sun sea and surf on the itinerary and an opportunity to lay my hands on a whole bunch of French ingredients.

Try as I might I’ve never come across a decent saucisson sec in my local supermarkets, and the Camembert never tastes the same as when you’re on holiday. It’s amazing what you come across in foreign climes. Lemon pepper is my current favourite ingredient.

A pal brought a tin back for me from Holland. It’s a combination of coarsely ground black peppercorns, mixed with dried lemon zest and it adds a great tang to whatever you cook with it. Perfect with pasta.

Actually 2019 is already shaping up just nicely. I’ve taken delivery of a stack of new camping equipment, including a couple of great new stoves from Campingaz, and a tidy looking tent from Coleman.

Having a couple of vegetarians in the family really has made me re-think how and what I cook. Don’t get me wrong, I’m an enthusiastic meat eater, but I’ve realised that throwing a couple of chops under the grill, or whacking a string of sausages in a pan has made me lazy when it comes to thinking up new things to cook.

Pasta has definitely helped my transition to vegetarian cooking on a regular basis, and what’s more it’s the perfect food for the camping kitchen. Dried pasta needs no refrigeration.

With a solid carbohydrate blast in the pasta itself, all you have to do is come up with a delicious quick and easy sauce to coat it in. This little recipe takes only 15 minutes or so from start to finish, and if you use fresh pasta instead of dried, it takes even less time!

RECIPE

Tagliatelle with mushroom, leek and fennel in a creamy sauce (feeds four)

Ingredients

400g dried tagliatelle
1 fat leek
A glug of olive oil
A knob of butter
1 small bulb of fennel (quartered lengthways and finely sliced)
1 clove garlic (finely chopped)
A good handful of chestnut mushrooms (finely sliced)
Salt and black pepper (lemon pepper if you can get hold of it)
A sprig of fresh thyme
Half a glass of white wine (optional)
170ml double cream
2 tbsp grated parmesan

How to cook it
Bring a large pan of salted water to boil and add the tagliatele, easing it into the pan as it softens in the water. Cover with a lid and boil for about fifteen minutes. Once the pasta is cooked to your liking, drain through a sieve or colander, return to the pan. Drizzle with a little olive oil and replace the lid.

While the pasta is cooking prepare the sauce, which will take about the same amount of time to cook as the tagliatelle.

Top and tail the leek, halve lengthways and slice thinly. Heat the olive oil and butter in a large pan and throw in the leek. Stir it through and add the fennel and chopped garlic. Cook for about five minutes until the fennel and leek begin to soften, next add the sliced mushrooms and stir through.

Season with plenty of salt and ground black pepper and add the white wine, along with the sprig of fresh thyme. Turn up the heat a while to burn off the alcohol, then reduce to a gentle simmer as you add the double cream.

Reduce the heat to low and allow to simmer very gently for about five minutes. Once the sauce is thoroughly warmed through, pour over the cooked pasta, either in the pan you cooked it in, or into a separate bowl if you want it to look fancy on the table. Scatter with grated parmesan and serve in bowls with crusty bread and a fine glass of white wine.