theveganpea

This pasta dish is one of my favourites…it is warm, comforting and the leeks melt in your mouth! The shiitake mushrooms give an amazing meaty flavour and the olives really help the dish catch up with Spring time! The variety of gluten free food is growing in leaps and bounds, however I am yet to come across a gluten free pappardelle in supermarkets, and so my cheeky trick is using gluten free lasagna sheets that i cut in half once boiled…works like a treat!

Preparation time: 1 hour 15 minutes (including cooking time)

Ingredients:

• 200g Gluten free lasagna sheets
• 500g Trimmed leeks (remove the tough leaves)
• 360g Shiitake mushrooms
• 180g Drained Kalamata Olives (use olives from a jar for this recipe…they have a great saltiness)
• 6 Garlic cloves with skin on
• 25g Chives chopped finely
• 6 tbsp Olive oil
• 2 tbsp Coarsely ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp Red chilli powder
• 1/2 Lemon juiced
• Salt

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius in a fan oven, or 200 degrees celsius otherwise
2. Prepare your leeks by removing a cm on the end and cutting the leek in half length ways and then horizontally into 4cm chunks
3. Separate the leaves of the leek and soak in a large bowl of water for 5 minutes, drain and repeat
4. Give the leeks a wash under running water in a colander
5. Wash the shiitake mushrooms under warm running water
6. Wash the olives under warm water to get rid of excess brine
7. Add the leeks and mushrooms to a large baking tray (use a tray with a large surface area…wide and shallow)
8. Using a knife, place it on top of each olive and apply pressure downwards onto the knife with the palm of your hand…this will squash the olives and allow us to remove the stone easily by hand
9. Add the olives to the tray once all the stones have been discarded
10. Add all the other ingredients to the tray (except the pasta) and mix well
11. Place the tray in the oven to cook for 40 minutes
12. Meanwhile cook the lasagna sheets in batches in salted, oiled boiling water
13. Once the lasagna sheets are cooked, using scissors cut each sheet in half vertically to produce wide ribbons of pasta
14. Once the veg is cooked and browned place the oven dish on the hob on low heat and add in the pasta and toss for a minute
15. Enjoy my Little Peas!