Porcini Mushroom Pasta in Creamy Sauce: Step-by-Step Recipe
An exceptionally tasty seasonal dish, porcini pasta is easy to make, provided, of course, you went foraging for fresh mushrooms the day before. It makes a great breakfast, and by the time the pasta is boiled, the cream and mushroom sauce is ready too.
The eternal question: “Are all mushrooms edible?” As the hero of an old joke put it: yes, until you've cooked something with them! But I know from experience that ruining the flavor of porcini while cooking is extremely hard, and you'd need a lot of practice to pull it off.
Porcini are used very widely in cooking, not only fresh but also dried, frozen, canned and pickled. You can cook porcini dishes without boiling the mushrooms first, or, if in doubt, after a short boil. Mushroom soup made with porcini always turns out clear and fragrant. Or porcini risotto is amazingly tasty and easy to make.
The porcino (Latin Boletus edulis) is the king of mushrooms, in size, in flavor and in its properties. Its Slavic name, “white mushroom”, comes from its unique quality of not darkening when cut or cooked. Even dried porcini stay white.
Porcini are used in cuisines all over the world. And mushrooms in general are just delicious. Mushroom pizza holds a place of honor at many pizzerias. Mushroom pasta is a common dish that can be made with any mushrooms. Or mushroom stew from Father Lacina's recipe: the main thing is plenty of mushrooms. Porcini pasta in a creamy sauce is a unique Italian dish. You'll find it in a place of honor on the menu of any decent restaurant in Italy as Pasta ai funghi porcini.
Ingredients
2 servings
- Fettuccine pasta 250 g
- Porcini mushrooms 2-3
- Cream or milk 50 ml
- Butter 1 tbsp
- Olive oil 1 tbsp
- Parmesan (grated) 1 tbsp
- Parsley 1-2 sprigs
- Cherry tomatoes 3-4
- Black pepper, salt, flour to taste
Step-by-step recipe
- It's a scientific fact that porcini pasta tastes many times better when you picked the mushrooms yourself. The mushrooms should be young and fresh, with no signs of having been nibbled by pests of any kind. You can also make the dish with boiled and frozen mushrooms.
- Sort the mushrooms, rinse them, cut off any damaged parts and scrape the stems, cleaning them as thoroughly as possible. Well, the usual routine, although in my opinion it's enough to rub the mushrooms with a sponge and wash them. Every part of a porcino is edible. Be sure to cut off the very bottom of the stem to make sure there are no worms.
- Cut the mushrooms into large cubes or slices. Porcini don't darken when boiled, so you can boil them briefly, just 5-10 mins in plain water without salt or spices. But it's quite enough to fry the chopped mushrooms in 1 tbsp of olive oil for 10 mins, stirring constantly. That way the aroma and flavor of the mushrooms come through in full.
- Melt the butter in a deep saucepan. Add 1 tsp of flour, stir so there are no lumps, and lightly fry over low heat until it just starts to change color. Then add the milk or cream. Stir to get a not too thick sauce with the consistency of sour cream. This is how basic béchamel sauce is made. Season with pepper and salt to taste. You can add a little sugar if you like, but that's a matter of taste. Simmer the cream sauce, covered, for 4-5 mins at a very gentle boil.
- Then add the prepared porcini to the sauce. Stir gently and keep simmering over low heat. Cook the sauce for no more than 5 mins.
- Meanwhile, cook the pasta. The type of pasta for this dish doesn't really matter, but in Italy it's customary to use long, wide pasta. Tagliatelle, fettuccine, pappardelle and the like all work well. But Italian cooks most often use fettuccine.
- If you boiled the porcini beforehand, it makes sense to cook the pasta in the mushroom broth. The cooking time is given on the package, and the manufacturer guarantees the pasta will be al dente in that time. Drain the cooked pasta in a colander and let the water run off.
- Combine the porcini sauce with the cooked pasta. Toss and serve the porcini pasta on plates.
- Sprinkle the porcini pasta with grated Parmesan and finely chopped parsley. Add a few halved cherry tomatoes and a sprig of herbs.
- Porcini pasta is served only hot. It's delicious, makes a good breakfast and keeps you full right up to lunch. You can always add other spices to the dish if you like, but remember that nothing compares to the aroma of fresh forest mushrooms.
| Yield: | 2 servings |
| Calories: | 180 |
| Prep: | 15 mins |
| Cooking: | 30 mins |
| Ready in: | 45 mins |
| Category: | Main Dishes |
| Cuisine: | Italian cuisine |
| Rating: |
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4.6
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