Tagliatelle with porcini mushrooms

5 from 80 votes

Tagliatelle with porcini mushrooms

The deliciousness of pasta with porcini can only be understood by those who have had the pleasure of eating it. It's an easy dish to make as long as you can find good quality porcini. So definitely worth going mushroom hunting for (even in your local supermarket!).

Prep Time15

Cook Time40

Total Time55

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian, Mediterranean, Tuscany

Keyword: mushroom pasta, porcini, porcini pasta

Servings:

Calories: 603kcal

Author: Jacqui

Ingredients

400 g tagliatelle (14oz) fresh or dried
500 g fresh or frozen porcini mushrooms (17oz) or 250 g porcini and 250 g cremini. See recipe notes about using dried porcini
½ glass white wine
3-4 fresh nepitella small leafed wild mint sprigs or thyme or parsley
2-3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves peeled
2 tablespoon unsalted butter
salt and pepper to taste and salt for pasta cooking water
Parmigiano Reggiano grated or vegetarian parmesan (optional)

Instructions

Put water on to boil for the pasta. Add salt once it starts to boil.
Clean the fresh mushrooms by cutting off the end of the stalk. It would be better not to rinse with water, given that the fungus absorbs it. You can use a small brush to remove any soil, or a damp cloth.
Cut the mushrooms into pieces
Fry the peeled garlic cloves in the olive oil, then remove them when golden and add the mushrooms.
Cook them for about 3-4 minutes until they start to brown. If using frozen mushrooms add after the fresh ones have browned a little
Add wine and nepitella or thyme, increase the heat and cook until the alcohol has evaporated
Reduce the heat and add salt and pepper.
Continue to cook for about another 10-15 minutes. Lower the heat once mushrooms are cooked through and add the butter. When the butter has melted remove the pan from the heat.
Cook the pasta in salted boiling water, remove a glass of the pasta cooking water to be used later and then drain and add the pasta to the pan with the mushrooms and butter.
Toss everything together over a low heat. The pasta absorbs liquid very quickly so if it looks too dry, add a little of the pasta cooking water at a time until you get the right creaminess.
Serve immediately with grated parmigiano or vegetarian parmesan as required.

Notes

If you want you can also add peas to this recipe very easily after adding the wine.
Tagliatelle is the most traditional kind of pasta to go with porcini because it soaks up all the sauce well and fresh tagliatelle has a rich taste, but pappardelle or fettuccine will work too.

Italian Parmigiano isn't vegetarian so use a vegetarian parmesan or omit cheese for a vegetarian version. Nutrition info doesn't include cheese.

USING DRIED PORCINI. Because dried porcini have a very strong taste and are expensive, I would suggest mixing them with some cremini or white champignon/button mushrooms) That way you also get nice pieces of mushroom in the sauce. 60g (2oz) dried porcini & 400g (14oz) other mushrooms. Soak the dried porcini in a bowl of warm water for at least 30 minutes before draining and cooking. (the water should cover the mushrooms) You can use a bit of the soaking liquid in the sauce.

Nutrition