Friday, November 10, 2006

Penne With Wild Mushrooms & Creme Fraiche

Another day, another Delia recipe. This one, though, has got porcini mushrooms in. I haven't tried it before, but porcinis tend to guarantee that it'll be a tasty dish. And, handily, I've got most of the ingredients to hand now.

Ingredients: (serves 2) 250g penne rigate, 225g mixed fresh mushrooms, 5g dried porcini mushrooms, 125ml creme fraiche, 1.5 tablespoons milk, 25g butter, 2 shallots, 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, plus freshly-grated nutmeg, Parmesan, and salt & pepper (all according to taste).

I'm going to use half an onion, instead of shallots. For the short pasta, I'm going to use fusilli instead of penne. Penne's great for absorbing lots of sauce, but I don't think there'll be too much in this dish. I've got some oyster mushrooms, and they'll do fine, instead of a mixture.

Method: Soak porcini in the warmed milk in a small bowl for 30 mins.
In a frying pan, melt butter, and gently cook shallots for 5 mins.
Strain the porcini, reserving the soaking milk (use a sieve with a sheet of kitchen roll in it). Squeeze 'em dry, chop finely, and add to pan.
Add the fresh mushrooms, & balsamic vinegar.
Season with the salt, pepper & nutmeg.
Stir, and leave to cook gently (uncovered): 30-40 mins, 'til the liquid has evaporated.
Cook the pasta 15 mins before the mushrooms are ready.
Two mins before the pasta's done, add the creme fraiche and milk to the mushrooms- warm through.
Drain the pasta, add to the mushrooms, and heat for another minute.
Serve on warm plates, sprinkled with Parmesan.

Update: I made this last night. I only had 125g of oyster mushrooms, but it turned out brilliantly. The porcini just infuse everything with a deep, rich mushroom taste.
In fact, as I need to use up my pot of creme fraiche, I suspect I'll try this again at the weekend, with some roasted nuts added.

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