Orecchiette con i Funghi - Orecchiette with Mushroom Sauce

A tasty Puglian mushroom sauce that calls for porcini, but can be made with other wild mushrooms as well. It won't work well with champignons, because they aren't mushroomy enough. The recipe, an interesting variation on baked pasta, is drawn from Luigi Sada's La Cucina Pugliese and will serve 4:

• 2/3 pound (300 g) fresh porcini or other wild mushrooms
• 1/4 pound (100 g) pancetta, thinly sliced and then cut crosswise
• Half a medium onion, minced
• 1 mozzarella (a ball about 2 inches in diameter), sliced thinly
• 1-2 thin slices cooked ham, shredded
• Grated pecorino
• Tomato sauce to taste
• Olive oil
• Salt
• 1 pound (400 g) orecchiette, either home made or store-bought (if need be substitute farfalle, butterflies).

Clean the mushrooms, washing them if need be, dice them, and sauté them with the pancetta and the onion. After a few minutes add tomato sauce (I wouldn't add more than a half cup) a little water, a pinch of salt, and simmer until you obtain a thick sauce.

While the sauce is cooking cook the pasta until half done in abundant lightly salted water. Drain it well, and preheat your oven to 360 f (180 C). Spread a thin layer of the mushroom sauce over the bottom of a heat-proof dish, then a layer of pasta, then one of mozzarella and ham, another of orecchiette, and the remaining sauce. Dust well with grated cheese, and bake for 20 minutes. Serve hot with a fairly full bodied white wine. Umberto Portinari's Soave would be nice, as would Montenidoli's Vernaccia Fiore.

How to make orecchiette
A clean version for printing.
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