I love pasta but this dish stands out. The lemon juice, fresh herbs and zest marries beautifully with the earthy mushrooms and stock; the cashew nut ‘parmesan cheese’ adds just the right amount of richness. Tonight I added chunks of tinned wild caught Atlantic salmon (in brine) but this dish doesn’t need it; in future I will leave it out I used organic cassava pasta but a red lentil or chickpea pasta would work equally well.

Lemon Cassava Penne With Herbs, Mushrooms And Peas Topped With Wild Caught Atlantic Salmon

Serves 4-5

Ingredients

340 grams of Jovial Organic penne

12-15 small dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked overnight, drained and thinly sliced

1/2 cup homemade soup stock (for recipe, see blog dated 15 January, titled ‘When It’s Cold And Wet, Add Pizazz To Soup Stock And Turn On The Oven For Crispy Dried Anchovies’)

1 small brown onion, peeled, sliced and chopped

1/2 tsp Himalayan pink salt

large handful of fresh cilantro, finely chopped

2-3 scallions, finely sliced

zest from 1 lemon

juice from 1 lemon

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed in a press

1/2 cup cashew nut ‘parmesan cheese’

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 cup frozen peas (nothing else added)

1 can wild caught Atlantic salmon in brine, b

drained and broken in to chunks (optional

Method

Fill a large pot with water, cover and bring to a boil. Add the pasta when boiling and stir occasionally to ensure the pasta does not stick. Cook for 13 minutes or according to package instructions if using an alternative pasta. Two minutes before the pasta is fully cooked, add in the frozen peas.

Prepare the onion and mushrooms. If using dried mushrooms, ideally soak the night before or at a minimum for several hours. Alternatively use fresh shiitake mushrooms. In a nonstick ceramic frying pan, saute the onion covered on a low to medium heat for several minutes. Add the mushrooms and continue to cook for several minutes. Add the salt and soup stock and continue to cook uncovered on a low heat while the pasta cooks.

Grate the skin of one lemon on a fine grater. Put aside. Juice the lemon. Prepare the garlic, crush and mix with the lemon juice. Set aside.

Finely chop the fresh coriander and slice the scallions. Put aside.

Drain the pasta and peas when done. Add to a large serving bowl. Add the mushrooms and stock, lemon juice and garlic, lemon rind, herbs and cashew nut ‘parmesan cheese.’ Mix thoroughly. Add the freshly ground pepper and taste adjusting the flavours as needed. Dish portions of pasta and adorn with chunks of salmon if desired.

Serve immediately.

If reheating at a later date, add a little soup stock and heat up quickly, stirring constantly to keep the pasta from overcooking. Alternatively, enjoy it at room temperature.

Enjoy!