Pappardelle with Asparagus, Porcini and Chanterelle Mushrooms, Pancetta, Speck and Marscapone Cheese.
WARNING: THIS IS A MANLY PASTA. IT'S RICH, IT'S HEAVY AND NIIIICE.
What you need:
Fresh pappardelle pasta
Two, large, fresh (not dried) Porcini Mushrooms
A handful of small Chanterelles (a cup's worth) or one large sliced up
Six asparagus stocks
Six slices of Pancetta or better yet a 2"x2" hunk (cubed)
Four strips of Speck - or a 2"x2" hunk (cubed)
One clove of garlic
Marscapone Cheese
Parmesan
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper
I've been on a mushroom kick lately. I shop for my veggies at the Pacific Palisades Farmer's Market (8-1 on Sundays) and a few months ago, this mushroom guy showed up with the most incredible looking mushrooms I've ever seen -- Chanterelles bigger than your fist, huge fresh Porcinis, Shitakes, Maitakes, Morels, and a ton of mushrooms I'd never even heard of, like: Blue Foots, Yellow Foots, Candy Caps, Maitakes, Enokis etc. There's a whole, beautiful world of fungus out there that I'd never discovered and I started playing around and discovering all of their different flavors. Here's the chanterelles and porcinis I bought Sunday:
Jamie Oliver has an incredible recipe for wild mushroom pasta that is an absolute killer, and the best part is that it's the easiest pasta I've ever made. It can be done in under 5 minutes, seriously. The recipe is here and I suggest checking it out some time: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/jamie-oliver/pappardelle-with-mixed-wild-mushrooms-recipe/index.html
I made it so many time in the past few months that I got a little burned out on it, so I decided to make another mushroom pasta with whatever I had in the fridge last night and this is what I came up with...
First off, cut up your pancetta and speck. If you have hunks, cube it small. If you have slices, just roughly chop them up. I like to roll the slices up, then cut them into strips, then cut the strips in half.
Get a pan going on high, and put in your pancetta and speck and drizzle with a little olive oil -- just a little, because the fat is going to start rendering in the pan and you don't want it to get too greasy. Cook for about 3 mins.
Now start some water boiling. Add salt and some olive oil.
Slice up your porcinis and chanterelles - I'm not super picky about how I do it. I may leave some small chanterelles whole, halve bigger ones, and make nice slices of huge ones. the goal is to keep them all roughly the same thickness so they cook evenly.
By now, your pancetta and speck should be starting to turn golden, so toss in the mushrooms, add salt and papper and let cook for about 3 min. Be light on the salt -- pancetta and speck are salted meats and will release salt into the dish. I've definitely over-salted things in the past when cooking with pancetta, so be mindful. You can always add more.
Finely slice up your garlic, turn the heat down to medium-high and add to the pan. Then give your asparagus a quick rinse, then quickly chop into 1" pieces. Add them to the pan.
At this point, your water should be boiling, so add your Papardelle and cook for 3 minutes -- err to the side of undercooking. Fresh pasta cooks fast and will continue to cook after it's out of the water. When the pasta is done, strain and add it into the pan. Turn the heat down to low and spoon in two tablespoons of marscapone. Mix and toss the pasta well -- the marscapone should melt and create a thin, creamy coating on everything.
Serve in a bowl, sprinkle on some parmesan cheese, maybe drizzle some fine olive oil over the top, add a pinch of pepper and get ready for a decadent meal! I suggest drinking a nice dry white wine with this to cut the fat and watching World Cup Highlights to sooth the mind. That's what I did anyway.
Enjoy!
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