45 minutes
4 Servings
Intermediate
Fettuccine with Porcini mushrooms
This is a classic Italian dish, fettuccine pasta, fresh porcini mushrooms, butter and cheese! Without a doubt, this is a masterpiece of Italian Culinary tradition, simple and yet delicious.
Ingredients
500 gr (1 lb) Fettuccine (handmade fresh pasta is best – see pasta making recipe for instructions)
600 gr (1.3 lb) Fresh Porcini mushrooms (while fresh are hard to find in the US, you can substitute frozen or dried – See details below for using dried)
50 gr (1.7 oz) unsalted butter
75 gr (2.5 oz) grated Parmigiano cheese
25 gr (0.8 oz) grated Pecorino DOP cheese
1 clove garlic
50 gr (1.7 oz) parsley
Black pepper
Salt – Mediterranean Sea salt
Extra virgin olive oil
Mise en place:
Brush and chop fresh porcini mushrooms – depending on size, you can slice into ¼ to ½ inch slices or quarters (do not remove dirt by washing, but gently brush with a lightly wet rag or mushroom brush).
Chop parsley.
When using dried porcini, you must rehydrate for several hour in warm water until they are moist and plump. They are generally pre-sliced.
Directions
Boil water in a large stock or pasta pot.
Coat the surface of a large pan with olive oil and warm it on medium heat, then add the peeled garlic and chopped mushrooms. Let the mushrooms cook on medium-low heat for ten minutes, adding salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
Once the water is boiling, add salt and stir to dissolve. Add the fresh fettuccine pasta and cook just until they are softened. Turn on the heat under the mushroom pan, remove the pasta from the boiling water and add it to the mushrooms. Set aside a cup or two of the pasta water.
Cook the fettuccine and mushrooms over a high heat, adding small amounts of cooking water to help the process so that the liquid keeps the pasta noodles separated.
Once heated thoroughly (just a few minutes), turn off the heat, sprinkle with chopped parsley, grated Parmigiano and Pecorino cheese, then cover with a lid (do not stir!). Let the steam moisten the ingredients for a couple of minutes, then remove the lid and stir evenly to bind ingredients. While stirring, add a bit more pasta cooking water and a drizzle of olive oil to emulsify the sauce which should appear as rich, velvety but not too thick.
Plate fettuccine nests onto plates or bowls, and sprinkle with a bit of grated cheese and then top with chopped parsley.
This dish perfectly pairs with Gewurztraminer white wine.