This is as unsophisticated as pasta gets. Mushrooms, check. Blue cheese, check. Walnuts, check. Garlic, check. Basically, chop them all up and put them in a pan. That’s it. Mix with pasta. Eat. This recipe is not by a chef, it’s a ‘Notes on a Spanish Valley: what are we going to eat?’ recipe. Assorted mushrooms
2-3 cloves of garlic
Packet of blue cheese, any kind [or plain cream cheese, if you don’t like blue]
Walnuts, chopped
Pasta, your choice

Prepare the mushrooms by removing the skin if necessary, otherwise simply wipe gently with a piece of dry kitchen towel [never rinse a mushroom, it absorbs water like a sponge and consequently tastes like one too]. Chop the mushrooms and set aside. Peel the garlic and slice thinly. Warm a small frying pan on medium heat, then toast your chopped walnuts briefly until coloured. Set aside to cool. Prepare the blue cheese by breaking or cutting the cheese into chunks.

Warm a slug of good olive oil in a large frying pan and add the garlic, fry gently to flavour the oil, do not allow the garlic to brown. Now add the mushrooms and cook until browned.

Meanwhile, cook your chosen pasta according to the packet instructions. When the pasta is done, drain but reserve a little of the pasta water.

Stir the cheese through the mushrooms until melted and blended together. Add the walnuts. Now tip the pasta and pasta water into the frying pan [the little drop of water helps the sauce cling to the pasta]. Mix pasta and sauce together. Eso es! That’s it! This is a very brown dish, so it looks prettier with a sprinkling of chopped parsley. Sorry about the brown photo, I forgot the parsley. But please be reassured this is very tasty, the meatier the type of mushroom the better.

5 to remember
sencillo/a – unsophisticated
fundamentalmente – basically
un paquete – a packet
moreno/a – brown
unas gotas – a sprinkling [literally, ‘some drops’]