NEW YEAR'S WISHES & FETTUCCINE WITH JAPANESE MUSHROOMS

Wishing you all a bright & beautiful 2015, filled with love, peace, happiness and dreams!

I feel it is best to leave things from the past year in the past year, but I couldn't resist bringing a recipe for fettuccine with Japanese mushrooms into the new one. Some of the mushrooms may be difficult to find, but there is no need to follow the recipe precisely — I highly recommend playing around a bit with the ingredients. Best served with a chilled glass of wine, or sparkling water if you are looking forward to taking a break from all the holiday drinking like me.

Hope you've all had a lovely holiday season, and that 2015 has been off to a wonderful start. On a personal note, I am officially done stuffing myself with my grandmother's cooking (think traditional osechi + roast beef + huge platters of oysters and a huge crab, both from Hokkaido, all combined with wine and finished off with dessert), and settling for crackers and raisins. I barely touched the cheese and prosciutto in the photographs, which also happen to be remains of the holiday feast, but they did compliment my new wooden serving boards which I wanted to show-off!
On a brighter note, I have a new ice cream recipe which I will post soon, and feel ready & hopeful for the new challenges and adventures 2015 will bring. I should just finish writing down my new year's resolutions first . . . *

* { fettuccine with japanese mushrooms, adapted barely from : elle à table, issue no.76 november 2014 — いろいろきのことパンチェッタのパスタ by ritsuko yamanaka (山中律子) }

{ INGREDIENTS } serves 2
120g fettuccine
3 raw shiitake mushrooms
1/2 pack of buna-shimeji mushrooms
1 large eryngii (or king oyster) mushroom
40g pancetta
1/3 Japanese leek
1/2 clove garlic, chopped
6 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
40ml white wine
20g grated parmigiano reggiano, plus extra to serve
4 tablespoons olive oil
salt & pepper

{ INSTRUCTIONS }
1. Cut off the hard ends of the mushrooms. Dice and set aside. Dice the pancetta and set aside. Mince the leek and set aside.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and sauté the garlic and leek until softened. Add the mushrooms and sauté until cooked through. Be careful not to burn. Add the white wine and keep cooking until most of the alcohol evaporates. Add the tomatoes and cook gently and add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
3. Sauté the pancetta in a small skillet, and add to the first skillet. Toss gently.
4. Cook the fettuccine in a large saucepan filled with salted boiling water until al dente. Drain.
5. Add the grated parmigiano reggiano to the mushrooms and toss, right before the pasta is done. Add the drained pasta to the sauce and toss together. Garnish with extra parmigiano reggiano and serve.