I cooked this recipe for an anniversary dinner with one vegan and two vegetarians. I thought I’d cook a truffle spaghetti that was primarily vegan, but had great tastes and textures. So I came up with this truffle spaghetti with breadcrumbs.

It’s mushroomy and truffley and has healthy lemon zest and parsley with crunchy sourdough bread crumbs on top… and if you eat Parmesan you can grate lots on top too.

Every one was happy and loved it so much I have put it on the blog. It’s the perfect dinner party recipe and if you half the quantities it’s perfect for a date night. Truffle oil is used sparingly so a bit goes a long way and in my local supermarket it’s £3.50 a bottle and will last you for ages, so it’s well within budget.

Recipe:

Serves 4.

Ingredients:
500g spaghetti
A few tablespoons of Olive oil
Truffle oil to taste
Sourdough bread crumbs (about 4 tablespoons or two slices)
2 cloves of Garlic thinly sliced
A handful of mushrooms sliced
A sprig of parsley finely chopped
The zest of 1 Lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan (optional if vegan)

How:

Firstly heat the oven up to 200°c. Put the bread into a blender or food processor and blitz until it’s nearly all crumbs but there are some small pieces. Place the crumbs onto a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast till golden, about 5-10 minutes and put to one side.

Cook the spaghetti according to the instructions on the packet in salted water, save a tablespoon of the spaghetti water in a cup, and drain and set aside.

Heat more olive oil in a very large pan and put the garlic in and cook to infuse the flavours into the oil. Next fry the mushrooms in the oil with some sat and pepper till starting to brown. Remove the mushrooms and place on a plate to one side.

Tip the spaghetti in the pan adding a couple more tablespoons of olive oil and stir till warmed through and coated in oil. Mix the mushrooms in with the spaghetti and the tablespoon of spaghetti water, season to taste and place on a serving plate or individual plates and sprinkle with the parsley, the lemon zest and the crumbs. Add Parmesan if you fancy and get everyone to sprinkle their own truffle oil on to taste.
I shop at:
Waitrose
Sainsbury’s
Tesco
Lidl