This isn’t necessarily a pretty dinner, but as autumn takes hold, work is busy and there is talk of more COVID restrictions, it was time for some comfort food!

I love gnocchi, but I rarely cook them. They’re quite easy to make as well, but again, I never seem to (something I intend to put right as the autumn draws in). Full disclosure – I used shop bought this evening!

First things first, some dried porcini mushrooms, chopped up and popped in a bowl with a good glug of vermouth followed by some hot water.

While they are soaking away, pop a pan of water on to boil. Chop some fresh mushrooms. Add some butter and olive oil to a pan. Pop in a couple of cloves of garlic to flavour. Add the fresh garlic to that pan. Add some fresh thyme and lemon zest.

Add the gnocchi to the now boiling water. They only take a couple of minutes to cook. After a couple of minutes, lift the gnocchi out and add them to the pan. Also add the soaked porcini (but reserve the soaking liquid).

Mix the contents together. Add a splash of the soaking liquid. Then grate in a large amount of pecorino. Mix thoroughly, add a splash of the soaking liquid. Serve immediately with more pecorino, lemon zest and sprinkled with thyme!