A: Lush mush.

Nothing jazzes up the common whle mushroom more than a frypan rendesvous with its slightly more exotic cousins. The mass of tall, lush mushrooms on the left are King Oyster mushrooms. We spotted these at our local fruit and veg shop and couldn’t help it! Of course who can ignore the very pretty Enoki mushrooms, and then there are the good old plain Jane mushies. They say mushrooms are like the beef steak in non-meat-eating circles. Just to be sure though, I decided to meat it up even further with a slab of speck. Mmmm… cured meat…

Opted for a simple pasta dish, seeing how this was indeed a work night and the demands of an empty stomach sat only a distant second to precious couch-tv time!

Speck-tacularly lush mush-ghetti

I haven’t included specific measurements as I actually don’t know how much/little of anything went into this. It’s really quite fool-proof and you could tweak it to suit all manner of fusspots (unless it’s an anti-mushroom fusspot, in which case I suggest we not attempt a mushroom-laden pasta dinner!).

Ingredients:

Speck, sliced into generous batons

Mixed mushrooms, sliced/torn apart depending on what you have

Thyme leaves

Smoked and sweet paprika

Sliced chilli and garlic

Vermouth/white wine

Cream

Method:

Place speck in a cold pan and turn the gas on. Allow speck to render and cook in its own fat.

Drain most of the fat away and remove speck from the pan.

Fry off mushrooms with paprikas, adding enoki, shitake and other similarly fragile/soft mushrooms towards the end. Chuck in the garlic and chillies about halfway through. I find that the flavour of the mushrooms really improves when they are sauteed over a low heat until 90% of the liquid is cooked out.

Add a splash of vermouth and let alcohol evaporate.

Return the speck to the pan, as well as some cream (or none at all, depending on what you like).

Stir though cooked pasta and enjoy!

The King Oyster mushroom was really meaty and dense. It didn’t go as floppy as the while mushrooms when cooked and was very sweet! It’s not a cheap addition to the meal at A$5 a bag, but I do think we shall see it again on our dinner plates some time soon.

A: Got lamb?

I know it’s not necessarily a mid-week type of meal, but this is a meal so simple I could possibly do it with my eyes closed! 10 minutes of prep and 60 minutes to roast an easy-carve leg of lamb makes this meal an all-round winner for the busy cook.

Olive paste

Combine in a food processor:

1. 2 handfuls of kalamata olives, drained

2. 2 anchovy fillets (or anchovy stuffed olives)

3. 2 red chillies

4. 3 cloves garlic

5. 1 quarter preserved lemon, rinsed (skin and flesh)

6. leaves from 3 sprigs of rosemary

7. Enough olive oil to lubricate processor

8. 2 tsp mild paprika

9. 1 tsp smoked paprika

Process tiill smooth. Cover the leg of lamb in paste, dot with butter and season with pepper.

Roast till required doneness and enjoy! (Roast potatoes and veggies in the same pan for an even easier 1-pot meal.)