Pappardelle alla Boscaiola: Pasta with a mushroom sauce is one of the most common Italian restaurant dishes, and you will encounter it throughout the Peninsula. This recipe calls for porcini, boletus edilis, and they are necessary to do it justice. Ideally, fresh porcini, but if you cannot find them you will have to make do: Purchase cultivated mushrooms and a 20-gram (1-ounce) packet of dried porcini...
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 pound (400 g) pappardelle, ideally freshly made
- 3/4 pound (350 g) porcini
- 2 shallots
- 3/4 pound (350 g) canned tomatoes, drained
- A small bunch of parsley
- A clove of garlic
- The leaves of a sprig of rosemary
- A few leaves of sage
- Olive oil
- Dry white wine
- Salt & pepper
- Freshly grated Grana Padano
Preparation:
... (this will be about a half cup, packed; if you want, you can use more, but don't exaggerate). Steep the dried mushrooms in warm water for 20 minutes, then mince them and add them to the cultivated mushrooms. Strain the steeping liquid, since it may contain sand, and add it to the sauce as well. The other option, in the absence of fresh porcini, is to use the wild mushrooms available where you live, combining them with some cultured mushrooms if need be and some steeped dried porcini. A last thing: This recipe calls for pappardelle, which are broad (1-inch) strips of pasta. You can, if you want, use fettuccine (half-inch strips) or a hollow form such as penne or tortiglioni. To serve 4:
Clean the mushrooms, brushing the dirt away from the stems, and separate the caps from the stems; dice the stems and cube the caps, keeping them separate. Mince the shallots and the herbs and sauté them for a few minutes in 4 tablespoons of oil in a casserole. Add the diced stems, cook another minute, and then add a half cup of wine and the tomatoes. Season with a little pepper and simmer the mixture for a half hour. Add a little more wine and a drop of water, and the cubed caps.
In the meantime bring pasta water to a boil, salt it, and cook the pappardelle. Drain the pasta and season them with the sauce; serve them with grated cheese for those who want it.
Yield: 4 servings pasta with mushroom sauce.
Clean the mushrooms, brushing the dirt away from the stems, and separate the caps from the stems; dice the stems and cube the caps, keeping them separate. Mince the shallots and the herbs and sauté them for a few minutes in 4 tablespoons of oil in a casserole. Add the diced stems, cook another minute, and then add a half cup of wine and the tomatoes. Season with a little pepper and simmer the mixture for a half hour. Add a little more wine and a drop of water, and the cubed caps.
In the meantime bring pasta water to a boil, salt it, and cook the pappardelle. Drain the pasta and season them with the sauce; serve them with grated cheese for those who want it.
Yield: 4 servings pasta with mushroom sauce.
