Fettuccine with Porcini Sauce
Instructions:
- 1 1 / 2 ounces dried porcini (40 g)
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 8 tablespoons ( 1/ 4 pound)
- unsalted butter (120 g)
- 1 / 2 cup dry white wine (120 ml)
- 1 beef bouillon cube
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/ 8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 3 tablespoons chopped parsley
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 clove of garlic, peeled
- 1 pound fresh porcini, cleaned and sliced into pieces
- 1/ 4 inch thick (450 g)
- 1 pound dried fettuccine (450 g)
- 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (100 g)
- This is our favorite recipe for porcini with pasta. It uses both the fresh and dried. Since fresh porcini are hard to come by, and extremely expensive if you don’t pick them, you could make this recipe with the dried porcini and another wild mushroom for the fresh. While the taste will not be truly Roman, the dish will be delicious.
- Soak the dried porcini in 1 3/ 4 cups hot water for 2 hours. Strain the water through a coffee filter or a double thickness of paper towel and reserve it. Rinse the dried mushrooms until clean, chop them, and set aside.
- Cook the onion in 4 tablespoons of the butter over low heat until it is soft and translucent, about 10 minutes, stirring every now and then. Add the chopped dried porcini and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the white wine, turning up the heat a little, and allowing it to evaporate almost completely.
- In a separate pan, combine the reserved mushroom water with the bouillon cube and bring to a boil. Sprinkle the flour over the dried porcini sauce, stirring, and pour over the boiling mushroom liquid. Allow to thicken, stirring constantly. Let the sauce cool slightly, then add the egg yolks, nutmeg, and parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- In another skillet, heat the remaining 4 tablespoons butter with the garlic. Add the fresh porcini mushrooms and saute, stirring often, for 6 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Mix half of the fresh mushrooms with the prepared sauce.
- Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until it is al dente. Drain the pasta and toss with the Parmesan cheese in a warmed bowl. Toss with the sauce and sprinkle the reserved porcini on top.
- Serve at once with a pepper mill and extra Parmesan on the side.