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Pasta al Fungo Porcino with a Cremini Mushroom Sauce
By Bob Skolnick Photography by Marty Snortum Studios
Mushroom flavored pasta can be found at either The Greenery Market in El Paso, Toucan Market in Las Cruces and End of the Vine in Ruidoso. Several pasta makers from Italy produce an excellent dried mushroom pasta. Fattoria Sant' Ambrogio makes a Tagliatelle with Porcini Mushrooms that is very tasty. Also, you can purchase mushroom pasta made by Rustichella d' Abruzzo. It is also an excellent dried pasta. If you prefer a fresh mushroom pasta, occasionally you can find it in the fresh pasta section of your local supermarket, or you can make it yourself.
THE PASTA
Serves 4
16 oz mushroom pasta
 (see left for sources for mushroom pasta)
1/2 gallon mild chicken stock
THE SAUCE
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
8 oz onion - finely diced
1 lb salted butter (you can substitute with margarine)
6 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 cup Italian red table wine – Chianti or Corvo
1 lb cremini mushrooms – sliced medium **
1/2 oz More Than Gourmet – Essence de Champignon Gold
(mushroom flavored base)*
1 oz Wondra flour – use as needed
3 sprigs of fresh oregano – leaves removed from the stem
1/4 cup fresh italian parsley – chopped medium
1/4 cup grated fresh parmesan & romano cheese
Salt & pepper to taste
TO PREPARE THE PASTA
1. Bring your mild chicken stock to a low boil and slowly immerse your dried mushroom pasta into the boiling water, gently stirring the stock to ensure the strands of pasta separate. The thinner the pasta the quicker it will cook. Return the
stock to a low boil and stir periodically. After five minutes pull a strand and taste for firmness to the bite. Dried imported pasta will cook faster than dried American made pasta.
2. When the pasta is cooked al dente (firm to the bite), remove it from the stove and drain it discarding the stock. If you are going to serve immediately, rinse with hot water and shake off and toss with a little of the mushroom sauce and set aside in a warm place. If you are cooking the pasta well ahead of service, plunge the hot pasta into ice water to immediately stop the cooking process. In this case retain your cooking stock to use to reheat the pasta later for service.
TO PREPARE THE SAUCE
1. Place your olive oil in a heavy bottom sauce pot heated medium hot. Add the onions and sauté quickly until lightly golden brown. Add the butter and dissolve. Stir in the minced garlic and sauté for a few minutes, careful not to brown the butter.
2. Next add your sliced Cremini mushrooms and sauté on medium high heat until slightly browned on both sides. Add your Italian red table wine and simmer until the wine is reduced by at least half.
3. Take the half-ounce of the Essence of Mushroom base (or chicken base) and dilute it in 2 cups of warm water and add to the sauce and bring to a low boil. Add salt if necessary. Add a small amount of finely crushed black pepper.
4. After the sauce has steeped for about a half hour, thicken it to a light translucent viscosity by using Gold Medal Quick-mixing Wondra Flour (careful - a little of this flour goes a long way). Continue to simmer the sauce and then add your fresh oregano leaves and chopped Italian parsley. Stir in the fresh herbs and remove the sauce from the heat and let stand covered for a half hour to let the flavor of the oregano and fresh parsley infuse the base sauce.
TO SERVE
Place your warmed pasta in a deep soup or pasta bowl. Ladle a little of the sauce onto the pasta and toss carefully. Place some of the cooked sliced mushrooms on the top, a little grated fresh cheese and a sprig of fresh oregano. Serve with a hearty baked bread. A good vegetable accompaniment is a broiled tomato topped with fresh spinach. Buen Provecho!
* More Than Gourmet Mushroom Essence can be found in small 1.5 oz containers at the Greenery Market. If you cannot locate this product substitute any quality chicken base paste.
** Cremini mushrooms are closely related to the white mushroom, but are bit more flavorful. The Portobello mushroom is the fully matured version of this mushroom.
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