Oven-baked pasta with porcini mushrooms and chestnuts

To prepare the oven-baked pasta with porcini mushrooms and chestnuts, switch on a static oven to 230°C.

If you are using fresh porcini mushrooms, clean them gently with a damp cloth to remove all traces of earth. Slice them and brown them over a medium heat in a pan with a drizzle of Pure Olive Oil and a crushed clove of garlic. Add salt and cook for about 10 minutes.

If you decide to prepare the oven-baked pasta using dried porcini mushrooms, place the mushrooms in a bowl with a little hot water and rehydrate them for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring plenty of water to the boil in a pan to cook the pasta, and start preparing the béchamel with the oil.

Heat the 1.01 fl oz of Delicato Extra Virgin Olive Oil in a pan with the flour and warm the milk separately. Mix with a spoon over a gentle/medium heat for about 2 minutes, then add the warm milk to the roux formed with the oil and flour.

Add salt and a sprinkling of nutmeg and start mixing with a whisk until the béchamel is sufficiently thick.

Cook the pasta in boiling salt water and drain after 8 minutes (before it is fully cooked).

Prepare the mix for the oven-baked pasta with mushrooms by placing the pasta, béchamel and mushrooms in a bowl (if you are using dried mushrooms, wring the water out of them and cut them into pieces first) along with two thirds of the chestnuts, roughly chopped, and 2.12 oz of grated Parmigiano Reggiano. Mix.

Transfer the mix to an oven dish (or small individual oven dishes) lightly greased with a little Pure Olive Oil. Spread the remaining chestnuts on the surface together with the rest of the Parmigiano and finish cooking in a hot oven for about 20 minutes. As soon as a nice crust has formed, the oven-baked pasta with porcini mushrooms and chestnuts is ready for serving.