Stranger Foods

Spicy ancho mushroom pasta bake

Serves 6 | Prep 25 mins | Cook 1 hr 15 mins

Smoky, rounded, rich flavours from medium-spiced chillies, roast mushrooms, garlic, charred tomatoes and grilled cheese, this pasta bake is bold and robust, full of upfront, mouth-filling, umami-rich flavours, partly tempered by the sweet mellow undertones of the ancho and tomatoes, but then gently smoothed out by the soothing cheeses. My ten-year-old eats it by the trayful. It is a dish you will want to cook again and again, putting it on the table with a modest air, knowing that it will be a knockout. A red wine and a crisp green salad is a fine match.

Source: Meat-free Mexican

Ingredients

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Imperial

x0.5

900 g mixed mushrooms (I use a mix of chestnut, portobello, shiitake)
2 large red onions, peeled and each cut into 8 wedges
120 ml olive oil, plus extra to drizzle
large handful thyme
2 ancho chillies, de-seeded
4 large ripe tomatoes
6 large cloves garlic, unpeeled
300 g large conchiglioni pasta
35 g sun-dried tomatoes
2-3 tsps Chipotles en Adobo
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1-2 tsps light brown soft sugar, to taste
2 balls of mozzarella, torn
60 g vegetarian pecorino or goat’s Gouda, finely grated
salt and pepper

Instructions

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Preheat the oven to 220°C. Line two baking trays with parchment paper.
Cut half the mushrooms into bite-size pieces. Finely chop or blitz the rest. Put the mushroom chunks and half the onions on one baking tray and the chopped mushrooms on another. Drizzle 4 tablespoons olive oil over each, season well and scatter with half the thyme. Roast in the oven for , tossing once or twice, until golden.
Briefly toast the ancho chilli pieces in a dry frying pan (skillet) set over a medium heat until fragrant. Try not to burn them! Pour over just enough boiling water to cover and soak for . In the same frying pan, dry-roast the rest of the onions, tomatoes and garlic over a high heat until blackened.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta in plenty of boiling water until al dente, drain and reserve the cooking water.
Once toasted, put the onion, garlic, rehydrated anchos, roasted and sun-dried tomatoes into an upright blender and blitz for a minute. Add the rest of the thyme, 2 teaspoons of chipotle, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the vinegar and 400 ml of the pasta water and blitz again to a smooth purée. Taste and season with plenty of salt and the brown sugar. The spice levels will mellow once baked.
Turn the oven down to 180°C. Tip the mushrooms and pasta into a large baking dish and toss with the tomato-chilli sauce. Stir well and add more water if it looks dry. Check the seasoning, scatter over the cheeses and cook for until golden.

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