Porcini Pesto Pasta Recipes

PESTO PASTA

Steps:

• Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling water until done. Drain.
• Meanwhile, heat the oil in a frying pan over medium low heat. Add pesto, onion, and salt and pepper. Cook about five minutes, or until onions are soft.
• In a large bowl, mix pesto mixture into pasta. Stir in grated cheese. Serve.

PORCINI MUSHROOMS EGG NOODLES WITH BASIL PESTO SAUCE

Steps:

• Fill a pot with water and bring it to a boil.
• Add salt and cook the noodles for 2 minutes.
• In the meantime, chop the fresh pistachios and brown them in a pan with a little extra-virgin olive oil.
• In another pan, heat the pesto sauce with a little cooking water, then drain the noodles and add them.
• Stir fry for one minute until the noodles have absorbed the sauce, then serve immediately with the chopped pistachios and parsley garnish.
• Variant with Mushrooms: Brown in a pan some Edendum Porcini mushrooms, add the pesto sauce with a little cooking water, then proceed as above.

PESTO PASTA

Steps:

• For the walnut pesto: In a food processor, combine the arugula, basil, Parmesan, walnuts, garlic, lemon zest and juice, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and pulse to blend. With the machine running, pour in the olive oil in a steady stream and process until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper if needed. Set aside. For the pasta: Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt. Add the pasta and cook until tender, stirring occasionally, about 11 minutes or according to the package directions. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.
• In the meantime, heat a large saute pan over medium heat. Melt 1 tablespoon butter, add the olive oil and then stir in the sliced onions. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions begin to brown or caramelize, about 10 minutes.
• In the same pan, melt the remaining tablespoon of butter and add the mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and brown, about 5 minutes.
• Add the drained pasta to the pan, along with the walnut pesto, Parmesan, lemon juice and reserved cooking liquid. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with the roasted red peppers, lemon zest and Parmesan.

PENNE PORCINI -- WITH TOMATO, PROSCIUTTO & PORCINI MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Fill a 5-quart stock pot 3/4 full with salted water and bring to a boil for pasta. Pre-heat a 3-quart stock pot over medium heat and add olive oil, shallots and prosciutto. Stir with a wooden spoon and cook 2-3 minutes until shallots are translucent. Deglaze pot with red wine and reduce by half. Squeeze excess wine out of porcini mushrooms and add to red wine reduction. Add tomatoes and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper and add cream, stirring to incorporate. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low, stirring occasionally.
• Add pasta to boiling water and cook al dente. Drain and return to pot. Add sauce, cheese and basil and mix well. Serve immediately and sprinkle with more cheese as preferred.
• Suggested wine: 2000 Frescobaldi/Mondavi Lucente
• (blend of Cabernet, Merlot and Sangiovese).

FETTUCINE WITH PORCINI

Steps:

• Soak the mushrooms in one-and-a-half cups hot water for half an hour. Meanwhile, mince the garlic and slice the onion thinly.
• Heat the oil in a heavy skillet and gently fry the onion and the garlic without browning.
• Strain the mushrooms, reserving their liquid. Chop them coarsely and add to the skillet with the tomato paste, dried red pepper flakes, sage, parsley and wine. Stir and pour in the mushroom-soaking liquid. Simmer, stirring frequently, for about 20 minutes or until thickened. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Meanwhile, bring six quarts salted water to boil for the fettucine. Cook the fettucine until al dente, drain and toss in a heated serving bowl with the sauce. Pass the Parmesan cheese separately.

FETTUCCINE WITH PORCINI

Steps:

• Place porcini in a bowl, cover with about 1 cup warm water, and soak 30 minutes. Drain well, straining liquid into large measuring cup. Place porcini on several thicknesses of paper towel, cover with paper towel and press to remove moisture. Cut very large pieces in half.
• Meanwhile, heat 3 tablespoons oil in a skillet large enough to hold pasta for 4 servings. Add pancetta and sauté until barely beginning to brown. Add garlic and sauté a minute or so.
• Add porcini and cook until heated through and beginning to brown. Remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper. Warm 4 plates.
• Bring a pot of salted water to a boil for pasta. Cook pasta about 3 minutes and drain well. Transfer to skillet, add remaining oil, and cook over low heat to incorporate and heat ingredients. Gradually add 3/4 cup porcini liquid. When some has been absorbed, remove pan from heat. Add eggs and fold together quickly, to warm eggs without scrambling them. Add a little more liquid if needed. Immediately divide among plates and garnish with parsley. Serve at once with cheese alongside.

FRESH PARSLEY TAGLIATELLE WITH PORCINI

Steps:

• Make pasta:
• In a food processor blend together 2 1/2 cups flour, oil, yolks, and 6 tablespoons water, incorporating as much of additional 2 tablespoons water as necessary, until mixture just begins to form a ball. On a lightly floured surface knead dough, incorporating as much of additional flour as necessary, until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Quarter dough and wrap 3 pieces separately in plastic wrap.
• Set smooth rollers of a pasta machine at widest setting. Flatten unwrapped piece of dough into a rectangle and fee through rollers. Fold rectangle in half and feed through rollers 8 more times, folding in half crosswise each time and dusting with flour as necessary to prevent sticking.
• Turn dial to next (narrower) setting and feed through rollers without folding. Continue to feed dough through, without folding, turning dial to make space between rollers narrower each time, until dough has been rolled through narrowest setting and is a smooth sheet, about 2 1/2 feet by 4 inches. Halve pasta sheet crosswise. Lightly brush 1 side of 1 pasta sheet with cold water and evenly arrange 1/2 cup parsley over it. Drape remaining half sheet over parsley-topped pasta sheet, gently pressing down to force out any air. Set rollers to second narrowest setting and feed filled pasta sheet between rollers. Put pasta sheet on a dry kitchen towel. Roll out and fill remaining 3 pieces dough in same manner, putting each on a dry kitchen towel.
• Attach ribbon pasta cutters to pasta machine and attach handle to widest cutter. Line a tray with another dry kitchen towel. Feed first pasta sheet, which will have dried slightly but should still be soft and pliable, through cutter and toss tagliatelle generously with flour. Form tagliatelle loosely into a nest and arrange on towel-lined tray. Make more tagliatelle in same manner with remaining pasta sheets. Makes about 3/4 pound.
• Fill a 6-quart kettle three fourths full with salted water and bring to a boil for tagliatelle.
• Trim mushrooms and cut stems from caps. Separately cut stems and caps into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Mince garlic. In a large skillet cook stems in 2 tablespoons oil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until stems are tender and liquid they give off is evaporated, about 5 minutes. With a slotted spoon transfer stems to a small bowl. In skillet cook caps in remaining 2 tablespoons oil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until caps are tender and liquid they give off is evaporated, about 3 minutes. Add stems, garlic, and butter and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add wine and cook, stirring occasionally, until wine is evaporated. Season mushrooms with salt and pepper.
• Cook _tagliatelle_in boiling water until al dente about 1 1/2 minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup cooking water and drain tagliatelle in colander. Add tagliatelle and reserved cooking water to mushroom mixture and toss to combine.
• Serve tagliatelle immediately with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.
• *Available at specialty foods shops and by mail order from Dean & DeLuca, (800) 221-7714.
• **Available seasonally at many specialty food shops and by mail order from Comptoir Exotique, (888) 547-5471.