Creamy Spaghetti with Chestnut Mushrooms & Pancetta

This is such a tasty and quick meal to put together that I just have to share it with you. It's something I cook regularly when we're short on time because it can be thrown together in about 10 minutes and it tastes so good!  It's simple flavours means it's a great meal for all the family.

It's the kind of recipe you can fiddle with. I add spinach to mine but if you don't like it, leave it out. If you have no chestnut mushrooms just use button or plain closed cap. Use Penne or another type of pasta instead of spaghetti. You could replace the pancetta with smoked streaky bacon and so on. Add more or less of the ingredients to suit your own taste.

It's not the healthiest of meals, as it's a bit heavy on the old double cream but everything in moderation huh and once in a while, a bit of double cream isn't going to see you six foot under.

This recipe serves 4 and we normally dish this up with some salad and garlic bread. This recipe is adapted from two recipes - one of them is a Lorraine Pascale and the other is a BBC Good Food recipe.

Creamy Spaghetti with Chestnut Mushrooms & Pancetta

Ingredients

400g spaghetti

150g cubed pancetta

200g chestnut mushrooms, sliced

200g bag baby spinach

225ml double cream

75g Parmesan

freshly ground black pepper

Method

Bring a large pan of water to the boil and cook the spaghetti according to the pack instructions.

Whilst the spaghetti is cooking, fry the pancetta over a medium-high heat for around 3-4 minutes. Once the pancetta starts to brown, add the sliced mushrooms and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Add the spinach to the pan and cook for around a minute until it has started to wilt.

Add the double cream to the pan. Once the cream is hot, mix in the Parmesan and stir well.

When the spaghetti is cooked, drain and return it to the pan. Add the cream pancetta mixture and stir through well. Season with freshly ground black pepper and serve immediately.

Nothing left to do but scoff the lot!