Recipe & photography by Ed Barrow.
Ingredients
- 25g of dried porcini mushrooms, cut into small pieces
- 250g of pork mince, or sausage meat
- 80g of pancetta lardons
- 1 clove of garlic, finely sliced
- 1 banana shallot, finely chopped
- Large handful of fresh sage leaves, chopped roughly
- 2 tbsp of tomato puree
- 100ml of single cream
- 150g of Northern Pasta Co Gigli
- 25g of salted butter
- 30g of panko breadcrumbs
- 30g of grated mozzarella
Method
Start by placing a large pan of well salted water on to boil for the pasta.
In a small bowl add the porcini mushrooms along with roughly 5 tbsp of boiling water. Stir and leave them to rehydrate whilst you prepare the sauce.
Meanwhile, in a large sauté or frying pan add a good drizzle of oil and place onto a medium heat. Once hot add the pork mince and using a wooden spoon break down into small chunks before frying for 4-5 minutes, turning occasionally until it has started to gain a good golden brown colour all over. Then add in the pancetta and fry for a further couple of minutes before adding the garlic, shallot and half the sage leaves. Cook down for around 5 minutes until the shallot has softened and turned translucent. Then add the rehydrated porcini along with the water. Then add the tomato puree and stir together before pouring in the cream. Season well with salt and pepper then turn down to very low and leave to simmer gently.
Add the Gigli to the boiling water and cook for 5-6 minutes or until al-dente.
Preheat the grill to high.
In a small bowl mix the breadcrumbs, mozzarella and remaining chopped sage. Season with salt and pepper and leave to one side.
Once the Gigli is cooked, drain it whilst reserving back some pasta water. Add the drained pasta to the pan with the sauce along with a splash of pasta water to loosen the consistency. Mix well then place into an oven proof dish. Sprinkle over the breadcrumb mixture then grill for 4-5 minutes until golden brown and bubbling on top.
