Sunday, October 17, 2010

Wild Mushroom Pasta

It's been a long week.   I discovered a crack in my bike frame...  unrideable.  I'm not running while I spend alot of money trying to fix my hip alignment.    And I've been fighting a cold.   Fantastic.


The one redeeming thing from last week was that I discovered how easy it was to make fresh pasta!   I had taken a class when I was in Italy this summer, but I hadn't braved the process on my own so I still expected it to be worse than it was.


I'm sure there is room for improvement, but it turned out well and I couldn't be more pleased :)     Well, unless my bike didn't need to be fixed and I didn't have so many biomechanical issues...     anyways...


Luckily I had some wild mushrooms from Marx Foods to distract me.   I've had alot of "flavored" pasta that didn't live up to the hype, so I really wanted to create a mushroom pasta that really fit the bill.   To do this, I ground up the dried mushrooms and used that in place of some of the flour.   It made the dough a little more difficult to work with, but a little bit of extra water was all it needed.


I love how light fresh pasta is, truly amazing!   Topped with, an earthy Mushroom-Goat Cheese Sauce, this was certainly a winning dinner :)



Wild Mushroom Pasta
adapted from in Tavola
Serves 2

150g Italian Style '00' flour (I had gotten some from KA, but you can use all purpose flour)
50g  dried porcini mushrooms* (1.8oz), ground in a spice grinder
2 large eggs
salt to taste (we didn't taste the raw dough in class, just a generous pinch :) )

Mound the flour and ground dried mushrooms on your work surface (a granite countertop or a large wooden pastry board work well).  Make a well in the center and crack eggs into the hole.  Add a generous pinch of salt.

Beat the eggs well with a fork, then slowly begin to incorporate flour from the inside perimeter of the well into the eggs.  Once enough flour has been incorporated, knead dough until smooth and elastic.  If the dough is too dry (maybe your eggs are a little small or the mushrooms are absorbing more liquid), add water, a few drops at a time, until it is easier to knead.  If the dough is a little wet (eggs a little large, etc), add a little extra flour until the dough is not sticky.  Wrap the dough ball tightly in plastic wrap and let rest while you prepare the sauce.

As I was making the sauce, I brought a large pot of water to boil.   For this pasta, I simply sauteed some sliced baby bellas, shiitakes, and red onion in a little olive oil/butter until browned.  Added some fresh thyme and saute until fragrant, then crumbled in some goat cheese.  A little pasta water to thin it out, and it was ready for the cooked pasta!

Divide the dough in half, and wrap one half back up as you work with the other.  Roll out one part of the dough on a slightly floured surface.  Fold in thirds, roll out with rolling pin.  Repeat two times.  I really wanted to get more pictures while I was doing this, but I needed another pair of hands.  To get the idea, check out this post!

Run dough through the widest setting of your pasta roller (this was a 1 on my machine), fold in thirds, and repeat twice more, almost like you were making puff pastry.  Adjust your pasta roller to the next thinnest setting and run dough through.  Continue this process until your pasta dough is nice and thin (I did this to 7 or 8), the dough will start to ripple a little bit and if it was regular dough would almost be transparent.    If the dough breaks apart when you're running it through the roller, don't worry, gather it back together, roll it out and repeat the process.  This happened a bit more than when I made a simple egg pasta, I think because the dried mushrooms were probably not ground as fine as flour, but it still came together with a little extra work.

To finish the pasta, cut your pasta sheets into desired shapes using appropriate cutter (I chose fettucine).  Cook in boiling, well-salted water for a few minutes.  Remove with large slotted spoon and toss directly into the sauce.   Serve, garnished with some fresh parsley!

I also tried drying some of the noodles overnight.  They're wrapped up in the freezer, so I'll come back and let you know how that worked out when I use them ;)


Have you ever made your own pasta? 


*Disclaimer:  I received some wild mushrooms from Marx Foods to have fun and create some recipes, my sweet corn and wild mushroom risotto being another!

I'm entering this into the Grow Your Own #46, being hosting this week by MomGateway!   Maybe one day I'll forage for my own mushrooms :)

22 comments:

Joanne said...

I've made pasta before but haven't yet ventured into the art of infusing it with different flavors! I'm so impressed that you took on this challenge. The mushrooms must have given the pasta such a nice earthy flavor. I'm so sorry to hear about your bike! Sigh.

sophia said...

It's been a long freaking week for me, too.Now, let's celebrate that it's over, and a bright fresh week is ahead of us!

I think you have a leg up, though, with that awesome pasta. You are so adventurous with your cooking, and best of all, it pays off! Your pasta came out fantastic!

Biz said...

Hang in there! Hopefully you were able to relax this weekend!

I've made ravioli - I agree, making fresh pasta is not hard and so delicious!

http://mybizzykitchen.com/2010/03/21/bsi-asparagus/

Lisa (bakebikeblog) said...

I am yet to try and make my own pasta - but I must give it a try!!!!

Fun and Fearless in Beantown said...

I've never made my own pasta before but this looks delicious! I still have some dried mushrooms leftover from Marx Foods...I might need to use it with pasta!

Elina (Healthy and Sane) said...

Oh no, that does sound like a rough week. The pasta does sound incredible though. Fresh pasta and wild mushrooms is a wonderful combo - wild mushrooms IN fresh pasta - even better :)
Are you feeling better?

vanillasugarblog said...

do you know i have yet to make my own pasta? i am put off by the whole drying part, plus i don't have a machine. i know i know, someday i might. i know in the end it's really worth it, because there is such a huge difference. nicely done girl!

Kerstin said...

Hopefully this week will be better and you were able to recover this weekend! I love this idea - definitely the perfect way to use those mushrooms!

Beth said...

Your pasta looks fantastic. I don't make homemade pasta, but I'm sure it tastes wonderful.
I'm sorry about your bike. There's nothing worse than wanting to stay healthy and not being able to. Hope your hips are better soon.

We Are Not Martha said...

This looks beautiful!! I've been meaning to make my own ravioli forever now and might finally take the plunge next week when I have a second... I'm totally battling a cold too :( Hope you feel better!

Sues

Val said...

Amazing. I have not made mine but you have inspired me. Happy Monday!

Jess said...

Argh! So sorry about the bike and the hip! I love fresh pasta and that dinner looks amazing.

Sarah said...

I'm sorry it's such a rough week, but your pasta looks beyond amazing! What a brilliant thought, so elegant.

Lauren said...

Despite not being a huge mushroom fan, I think your pasta looks great! I have made homemade pasta before, and should really dust off the pasta maker and get creative with some fun ingredient additions ;).

MichellePC said...

This pasta looks fantastic! Unfortunately, we didn't have the time to take a cooking class in Italy, although I would have loved to learn how to make my own fresh pasta. It's definitely on my to-do list, though!

Reeni said...

I'm sorry about your bike Shannon! I would of comforted myself with a big bowl of your delicious pasta! I'm inspired.

Diana said...

Oh my gawd, I'm impressed. Can't say I've been inspired to make my OWN pasta so much as just make pasta, but I can easily imagine that if I'd ever taken a pasta class I'd want to give it a homemade go. There's a big difference!

Feel better soon! Hope the bike doesn't set you back too much. :(

Natalie said...

what an awesome recipe! I have a pasta maker and have had it for months but haven't yet broken it out...I NEED TO, esp after seeing this!

Unknown said...

NOw this is TRULY impressive! I've always wanted to make my own pasta. Love the mushroom flavor. Can you send leftovers my way? haha.

Erica said...

SO cool! I've always wanted to make pasta- I need to get the attachment for my mixer. Best of luck in the contest- will be puling for you - wahooooo!

momgateway said...

wow! homemade wild mushroom pasta...unbelievable! If you received the mushrooms as a gift from Marxx Foods, you can actually post this fantastic recipe to the GYO (Grow Your Own) event I am hosting this month.

Chef Fresco said...

Man we've been wanting to try making our own pasta forever. Looks so good! Hope you get to feeling better soon!

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