Striped Pasta with Crayfish and Leeks

If you are interested in food it is always exciting when you find something a little bit different. On a stop-off at the award-winning Westmoreland Services (M6) after visiting AGA shops in Scotland, I found some wonderful coloured pasta. This farfalle zebra is so pretty with the green leeks and pink crayfish – together with the Brown Beech mushrooms it’s definitely a designer dish! If you cannot get to the services then contact www.salentofoods.co.uk for local artisan
pasta supplier info.

Ingredients
Serves 4

  • 250g packet farfalle pasta (I used the black and white zebra)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 40g (1½oz) butter
  • 1 clove of garlic, very finely chopped
  • 2 leeks, finely sliced
  • 150g (5½oz) Buna Shimeji mushrooms (Brown Beech mushrooms)
  • 2 x 170g crayfish tails
  • 125ml single cream
  • Salt and black pepper
  • Chopped parsley


Method

Bring a large pan of water to the boil and add the pasta and salt, return to the boil.


2, 3 and 4 oven AGA: Cover the pan and place on the floor of the simmering oven for 7 minutes (or follow the pack instructions for the pasta you are using). Drain.

Meanwhile melt the butter with the garlic in a frying pan, add the leeks and sauté until soft. Move the pan to the boiling plate then add the mushrooms, cook for 2-3 minutes then add the crayfish, heat through. Transfer back to the simmering plate and pour in the cream, season.

Mix the pasta and crayfish sauce together and serve at once garnished with parsley.

Conventional cooking: Cook on the hob.

Further information: The Buna Shimeji Brown Beech mushrooms were grown in Leicestershire by Livesey Bros, for more details go to

www.themushroombasket.com
 

The Red Devil Rides Again

Michelin starred protege and fearsome 'enfant' terrible of the London restaurant scene, Tom Aikens was flying high then two years ago it all came crashing around his ears.  Restaurants went bust and unpaid suppliers went on the war path, but this is one Iron Chef with a nerve of steel.  Now he's back on winning form with new restaurants and a budding TV career.  Caroline Sargent met him at his Chelsea diner, Tom's Kitchen.

> MORE


Fame and Farming

Sunday evening, BBC1 and millions of people all over the UK are tuned into Countryfile.  Sally-ann Bloomer goes along to meet one of the stars of the show, Adam Henson, who farms 1,600 acres in the Cotswolds.

> MORE

The Fragrant Fields of Kent

Diversification into lavender crops has resulted not only in a change in the Kentish landscape but the farming fortunes of the Mitchell family.  Using their own essential oils, they have developed a sophisticated range of bath and body products that is quite unlike the stuff you'll find in grandma's dresser.  Caroline Sargent meets an enterprising farmer with a good nose for business.

> MORE