This week sees the welcome return of the h2g2 Post Recipe section. We are delighted to introduce our resident chef Bob who will be pleased to take requests for the style of dish you would like him to cover. We would also be happy to feature your own personal favourite recipe but do remember that you should not submit anything which may be copyright.

Send your suggestions or recipes to Shazz.

First an introduction from Bob

I started cooking for myself at the age of six. Because my parents were too busy with my sister, I had to look after myself. So, I have been cooking for most of my life but never seriously until I started working in the kitchen of an Italian restaurant. There were only three of us in the kitchen which meant that I had to help with the cooking - even though I was only supposed to be washing dishes! After that I decided that I would try to cook properly, so I now look in recipe books for the basic idea and then add to them or amend them. All the pasta sauces I do off the top of my head. I must apologise if there are some inaccuracies in the measurements because all the cooking I do is by trial and guesswork - on the smell and the way it looks and tastes.

Ingredients:

• Cream (thick)¹
• Small fresh mushrooms 4oz(100g)
• Penne or any fresh pasta
• 1 small onion
• 1 fresh garlic
• Mixed herbs
• A little butter or margerine
• A little vegetable oil
• Basil - fresh or cube
• Salt

• Put the pasta on to cook as the instructions say (if you have fresh pasta you may not need to cook it).
• Meanwhile, take two cloves of garlic and peel them (there are various ways to do this I usually cut the top off and pull the skin away). Slice the garlic into small slices.
• Slice the onion in half then cut the two halves into strips. So that the onion separates (if you were using the whole onion you would have rings).
• The pasta should be done by now so take it off the heat and drain the water off.
• Take about three quarters of the mushrooms and blend them until they have liquified. (The rest of the mushrooms will go into the sauce so it is really up to you).
• Take the cream and mix the liquified mushrooms into it, to make a sort of creamy soup. (this should have a thick consistency but it isn't vital).
• Take a pan, put in some olive oil and butter. Melt the butter and mix it into the oil, then put some basil into the liquid in the pan (I used basil cubes sold by Knorr).
• Now put the pieces of your onion, garlic and the mushrooms you have left - these should not have been cut - into the pan to fry.
• As soon as they have started to fry pour the sauce over them and mix them in. Add some salt and mixed herbs (for this I used Mediterranean mixed herbs) and allow the sauce to boil.
• Once the sauce is boiling add the penne to it and allow it to cook for another 2 or 3 minutes (this is to allow to pasta to soak up some of the sauce).
• Now it should be ready to serve. Serve with cream or ice cream.

Enjoy

The Recipe Archive

Bob

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