The North Union Farmer’s Market in Chagrin Falls opened up last month, which means the return of fresh Ohio City Pasta to my menu! They have such a crazy variety of pastas to choose from that challenge my meal-creation brain cells. My favorite basic one is the black pepper pasta. Spinach pasta is good for most applications as well, but what about Cilantro Lime…Saffron…Tomato…Mushroom…?????
I don’t want to hide the subtle flavors of the pasta with heavy sauces, especially in the summer, so I need to stick with simple recipes that are intended to blend nicely with the pasta, not just sit on it. I am a little peeved with myself that last year I didn’t write down what I did with the Cilantro Lime pasta. when I try it again, I’ll post it. It was durn good and completely out of my own imagination…grrrr.
I had the mushroom pasta in the freezer and had a craving last night. I was in a hurry, so I hit the web.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of recipes call for heavy cream or Gorgonzola, which would be AWESOME if I weren’t trying to be texturally light and not cover up the pasta’s flavor.
The winner?
Mushroom Sauce: Funghi Trifolata, courtesy of The Food Network and Mario Batali.
I used my 10″ skillet for this. NOT non-stick. It worked just fine, but it would have been easier to toss everything together if I had a 12″…ebay, here I come! Or I suppose I could have actually read the recipe all the way through and used my Saute pan instead.
yeah.
Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium Spanish onion, cut into 1/8-inch dice
- 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 8 ounces fresh porcini or cremini mushrooms, sliced thin, plus 4 mushrooms, thinly sliced
I went with the cremini because porcini fresh are hard to come by. I think they are generally available early spring for a brief window, but I’ve never found them. I have dried ones I could re-hydrate, but decided against it.
- Salt
- Pici pasta, cooked al dente, reserving 1/2 cup cooking water, recipe follows
I used 2 Bundles of Ohio City Mushroom Pasta. Boiled in well-salted water (should taste like sea water) for about 5 minutes, or until just about al dente.
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
- 1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley leaves
Directions
Heat oil in a 12 to 14-inch saute pan, over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic and 8 ounces of sliced mushrooms and cook for 5 to 6 minutes. Add the salt and pasta with 1/2 cup pasta cooking water to the pan and toss quickly. Add the remaining 4 raw sliced mushrooms and toss again, off heat. Serve immediately, topped with the grated cheese and chopped parsley.
So what kind of wine? For a while I was searching for a wine-pairing app for my iPhone, but could not find any good ones*. I have been using Wined-In instead through my web browser with great success. They recommended a Cotes du Rhone, and I must say my $10 bottle of 2007 Bastide de Beauvert worked nicely 🙂
So anyway, had a bag of mixed greens from a new terrific vendor at my North Union market, BirdSong Farms. I topped it with a tart, early season diced tomato I bought from them, thin-sliced red onion, Figone olive oil and balsamic vinegar (purchased on our vacation to the San Francisco area), and some mozzarella from Meadow Maid/Nourishing Meadows grass-fed dairy cows. A turn of black pepper and a sprinkle of salt, and you’re on your way.
Next week I’ll pick up the Saffron style pasta and see what I can cobble together!!!
xo
en
*In searching for Wined-In information just now to write this post, I came across this list of NEW wine apps…going to have to try them out 🙂