Finely chop a large onion. Warm 4 tbsp of olive oil in a deep pan over a moderate heat, stir in the onion and cook for about 15 minutes till soft and translucent. Peel and finely slice 2 plump, juicy cloves of garlic and stir them in together with 2 tsp of chopped thyme, 1 of rosemary, 3 bay leaves, a good pinch of dried red pepper flakes and a little salt and black pepper. While the onions are cooking, put 10g of dried mushrooms in a heatproof jug, pour over 500ml of boiling water and let them steep for a few minutes. Stir 2 tbsp of tomato paste into the softened onions, cook for a few minutes, then mix in 2 tbsp of plain flour. When the flour has been cooking for a couple of minutes, pour in the mushroom broth and the dried mushrooms. In a shallow pan over a medium heat warm a little oil, then fry 350g of small, brown mushrooms, thickly sliced, and 125g of fresh shitake. I do this in batches. When they are sizzling, add them to the onions then return to the heat with a dash more oil and fry 150g of small, tender mushrooms, such as shimeji. Tip them in the pot, stir gently, then leave to simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Cook 150g of pasta (I like trofie, casarecce or gemelli for this, but any small shape will work) till al dente, drain lightly, toss with a dash of olive oil and black pepper then serve with the ragout. Enough for 2 Most mushrooms will work neatly here, but thickly slice the larger varieties and add anything very fine, such as enoki, at the very end as they cook so quickly. I like tarragon in this, too, especially in late summer. Use in place of the rosemary but still include the thyme. You will need 3 tbsp of chopped leaves to leave the right aniseed notes. The ragout is particularly good with brown rice but fluffy white rice is pleasing, too. It is also deeply satisfying when poured over rounds of thick sourdough toast.