Nigella's Pasta with All Kinds of Stuff

Pierce over at Life in the Slow Lane at Squirrel Head Manor is on a Nigella kick and is methodically going through Nigella Express. When I initially reviewed the book this pasta dish, called Linguine with Lemon Garlic and Thyme Mushrooms, caught my eye, and after reading Pierce's post about it, I decided to make it.

On a related note, my great friend Karen just returned from a trip to the UK, where she came across this thyme-y little tidbit. Herbs have been known to have many benefits, but if you ever get swollen testicles, please rub them with thyme and let me know how that goes, will ya?

OK, onto the recipe. This was done and on the table in about 20 minutes.

Pasta with Lemon, Garlic and Thyme Mushrooms, Nigella Express page 291, adapted by me

225g mushrooms, sliced (I didn't measure, I just used about 8 large mushrooms)
50mL olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
1 clove of garlic, crushed or grated
zest & juice of 1 lemon
2 tsp thyme
1lb pasta
2 - 3 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese, or to taste

1. Slice mushrooms finely, and put in a bowl with the oil, salt, garlic, lemon juice & zest, and thyme.

2. Cook pasta according to package directions and drain loosely, retaining some water (I retained about 1/2 cup) and return to pot . Put the mushroom mixture into the pasta. Add cheese, salt & pepper, and serve.

This was OK. As a meal, I found it a tad unsatisfying because there wasn't much to it and it was a bit plain. The second night I had it, I served it with some sauteed shrimp to add some protein to the meal, and I plan on serving the rest as a side dish with an upcoming chicken meal. This was very simple to make, though, and I loved the light dressing on the mushrooms. As Nigella says in the cookbook, you can serve the mushrooms as a salad and I think that's a fantastic idea.

Thanks for the inspiration, Pierce!