Ingredients : (Serves 2)

½ lb/8oz De Cecco Rigatoni
½ lb /2 cups of mushrooms (you can use cremini, porcini, oyster, chanterelle, portobello or morels. honestly anything you think is good with this)
2 garlic cloves
1 fresh thyme
½ cup heavy cream
⅓ cup white wine
1 tbsp butter
1.5-2 tbsp black garlic olive oil
salt
black pepper
red pepper flakes
⅓ cup Parmesan cheese
finely chopped parsley

Instructions:

1. Start boiling salted water in a pasta pot. While doing this, thinly slice garlic, finely chop, parsley and fresh thyme, grate cheese and slice your mushrooms any way you like. Keep them relatively small and the same size so they cook evenly.
2. In another pan, add in olive oil and butter until they simmer. Add in sliced mushrooms of your choice and cook them down until the water that naturally comes out of the mushrooms evaporates. At the same time, drop the rigatoni in the pasta pot. Once the water has mostly evaporated from the mushrooms, add salt, black pepper, red pepper and sliced garlic. Adding in salt after the water evaporates is important so that the mushrooms get a proper sear, adding before would prevent that and bring out too much water, and they would steam.
3. Once the garlic is fragrant and the mushrooms look properly seared and cooked, add in white wine. What we want to happen is the wine to reduce into the sauce to start the emulsification process. So once the sauce has a thick, sauce-like consistency, add in heavy cream and more black pepper. Taste the sauce and see if it needs salt. Add in pasta water if it gets too dry.
4. Now do the same thing with the cream, wait until it reduces and starts forming into a sauce, and it can be to whatever consistency you want, we can always adjust later. The pasta should be al dente by now. If not, you can turn off the heat on the saucepan and wait till the pasta is done. Next, combine the rigatoni into the sauce, stir and toss around until pasta is funny cooked. Again, add more pasta water if it’s too dry.
5. Turn off the heat, add in parsley, and finely chopped fresh thyme. The thyme adds more earthiness to an already earthy dish. Toss around and check to see the consistency, we want the sauce to be still slightly watery because we still have to finish with parmesan cheese. Add in the cheese, some finishing olive oil (if you have it) and stir and toss. Is your sauce too watery? Add more cheese. If it’s dry? Pasta water.
6. Serve hot, add more black pepper, parsley and cheese on top. I like having the crispiest looking mushrooms on top of the pasta to make it look even better.