Warming Winter Pasta Bake

I had my winter firewood delivered and lit my first fire this week, and it put me in the mood for some comforting winter food. For whatever reason I always lean towards pasta when I think of comfort food. I hadn't shopped in a while, so I was going to have to prepare something from my pantry and garden. I'm teetering dangerously close to becoming a food hoarder, so my pantry is usually pretty well stocked. Although I must add that living alone has (fortunately some might say) forced me to control my urge to have my pantry compete with the innovatory in my local supermarket's. I love to garden, so I usually have a lovely selection of fresh herbs growing in my garden, something I rarely have to buy. I also had every ingredient needed in my pantry and fridge for this spectacular pasta dish. It really was delicious, I made an Arugula salad, and toasted some ciabatta bread, and enjoyed it with a delicious glass of red wine…

Beautiful Beech Mushrooms, so delicate and so delicious. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Pasta Baked with Sun Dried Tomatoes, Fresh Basil & Beech Mushrooms… 2 cups Rigatoni Pasta/ 1 tsp Sea Salt/ 2 ounces unsalted butter/ 2 level tablespoons plain flour/ ½ tsp Malden salt (any sea salt will do)/ 1-cup full fat milk/ 3/4-cup good white wine/ Freshly ground black pepper (to your taste)/ 1 cup grated cheese (of your choice) recommended Gruyere/ 2 bay leaves/ 6 sprigs fresh Thyme/ 2 Garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped/ ¼ tsp grated nutmeg/ 3 ounces salted butter/ 1 cup Beech Mushrooms/ 1 cup Sun Dried Tomatoes, drained and roughly chopped./ ½ cup fresh Basil leaves, torn./ 1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano./ Pre heat the oven to 375 Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water for 12 minutes, remove the cooked pasta, drain and set aside. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan, then remove from the heat and whisk in the flour, slowly add the milk whisking constantly, place back on the heat, add the wine and keep whisking, add the black pepper. Add the salt, and gradually stir in the cheese. Once all the cheese has melted, add the bay leaves, thyme, garlic and nutmeg. Stir well to combine, and simmer gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Melt the butter in a small saucepan until sizzling, Cut the base off the mushrooms separating them, add the mushrooms to the pan, baste the mushrooms well with the sizzling butter for about one minute, remove and drain on kitchen paper, set aside. In a medium-mixing bowl add the pasta, tomatoes, basil and mushrooms and mix together very gently so as not to damage the delicate mushrooms. Pour the mix into a Casserole baking dish. Using a conical sieve, strain the white sauce over the pasta. Sprinkle the Parmigiano Reggiano over the pasta and bake for 15 minutes. Serve with a lovely green Arugula salad, and toasted garlic ciabatta (for texture) Enjoy :o)