Monday 1 April 2013

Mushroom Pappardelle







I think it's fair to say that I don't need much of an excuse to cook a dish that includes copious amounts of mushrooms, I love them, I only wish that I was an excellent forager, it would make my Pappardelle taste even better knowing the main component was free. I usually make my own pasta from scratch, I really think there is no better flavour than fresh pasta, but unfortunately my pasta machine was less than functioning before and now is totally  Kaput. 
I have been scouring delis and food specialists for a while now trying to find the perfect artisanal pasta and finally I found it, in Waitrose no less, they are a little pricey at £4.99 for a 250g pack but it's totally worth it. Usually I would recommend using a porcini mushrooms but I think we have some lovely mushrooms right here in Britain, I would say don't knock the humble chestnut mushroom, they have bags of flavour and are crazily cheap. 
This dish encompasses the ethos of Ina Garten,High low cooking, mixing high ingredients (the pasta being a little pricey) and the humble chestnut being the low ingredient. I do have to stress there are rules, simple rules, that must be followed when cooking a pasta dish.
1. cook your pasta in water that is a s salty as the Mediterranean, it flavours the pasta so much. 
2. Add the pasta to the sauce, never the other way round, and toss well to coat each strand of pasta with sauce.
3. Reserve some of the pasta water to flavour the sauce and the starch from the pasta will help the sauce cohere and cling to the pasta.
Simple rules that must be followed.

You will need:

350g of chestnut mushrooms (the stalks finely chopped, the cap sliced)
150g of mixed wild mushrooms roughly sliced
50g of chopped garlic
50g of butter
3 tbsp of olive oil
1 tsp of chopped oregano
1/2 tsp of pepperoncino (dried chilli flakes)
2 1/2 tsp of maldon salt
20ml of lemon juice
50ml of double cream
250g of filotea Pappardelle
1/2 tsp of black pepper
200ml of pasta water added in intervals of 50ml
50g of peccorino romano cheese it has a nutty flavour that works better with mushrooms than parmesan
4 tbsp of chopped flat leaf parsley

Firstly fill the largest sauce pan you have with a lot of water and add a few tablespoons of maldon salt (the water must be as salty as sea water. In a large sauce pan add the butter, pepperoncino, oregano, olive oil and mushrooms and then turn on the heat to medium, when the mushrooms are starting to colour add the garlic. Add the Pasta to the boiling water and cook for four minutes. When garlic has cooked with the mushrooms for two minutes add the cream, salt, lemon juice and black pepper.

 
Add the pasta to the sauce and toss well until fully coated, add the pasta water in 50ml intervals until you feel the pasta is well coated (you might not need all the water). Finally just before serving toss the cheese and parsley through the pasta and serve immediately.


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