Fettuccine al Fungaiolo
Styling: Anita Parise
Blog: Anita Parise
Photography: Anita Parise
Recipe & Inspiration: Australian mushrooms – Meat for vegetarians
Hi there Clubbers!
I hope you have all been well since our last recipe entry. I have been on a little hiatus in the last couple of weeks with the school holidays and activities planned to keep my children entertained. Now that they have returned to school, I feel refreshed (as they say, a change is as good as a rest). Plus, we have some wonderful recipes to share with you all over the next few weeks!
I have been cooking and experimenting with mushrooms quite a bit lately. I’m not sure why but I do think that they are a wonderful replacement for meat on a meat free Monday! (Wow, try saying that five times fast!)
Over the school holidays I was watching old reruns of the SBS program ‘Italian Food Safari,’ which features one of my all time favourite TV chefs, Guy Grossi. I happened to stumble across an episode on forest mushrooms – funghi del bosco. Watching this episode reminded me of a childhood friend. Her father would venture to certain secret spots in Perth to rummage for wild mushrooms. Now, if you know what you are doing and know exactly what you are looking for then great…but if not, please only buy your mushrooms from the grocer or local farmers market. He knew exactly when it was the perfect temperature and where to look for them. He would make a day of it and, once home, would meticulously clean, trim and prepare them to create the most amazing pasta sugo!
In Italy, there are people who do this both for a living and recreation. The ‘fungaiolo’ – un cercatore di funghi – means the mushroom collector. So, unlike my friend’s father – a true fungaiolo who forages in the wilderness to collect mushrooms – I visited my local green grocer. There I purchased safe to eat mushrooms in an impressive array of varieties, in the hope of recreating a fond memory to share with you all. You do not need to use the varieties I have selected – these were just my picks as they were different in shape and texture.
This is a very simple recipe; one that is fast to prepare and comes together in less than 30 minutes. It also makes for a lovely dish to share with friends over the weekend…accompanied by a few vinos.
However you prefer to eat your mushies, I think you are going to enjoy this recipe.
Ciao for now and buon appetito!
Anita, Renee & the GR Team
Ingredients
* Reserve some cooking water – you will need this to add to the sauce.
- 500g of Golden Ravioli fresh Fettuccine
- A good glug of extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 shallot, finely chopped
- 4x sage leaves, roughly chopped
- 3 King Oyster mushrooms
- 1 punnet of Shimeji mushrooms
- 1 punnet of brown mushrooms
- 150 ml of white wine or Rose` if you prefer
- A bunch of parsley, roughly chopped
- 60g of butter
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Your favourite hard cheese to serve
Method
- To begin, place a large pot of salted water on to boil. To prepare the sauce, chop and slice all your ingredients and set aside.
- In a large frying pan or skillet, use a generous glug of extra virgin olive oil and sauté the garlic, shallots and sage until translucent. Add the mushrooms and cook for 1 minute or until softened.
- Next, deglaze the pan with the wine and cook for another minute until the mushrooms are cooked though. Add the parsley.
- With tongs, place the cooked pasta directly from the pasta pot into the mushroom mixture. Add the butter and toss to combine.
- Add about a ladle full of pasta water to the mushroom mix and continue to mix. The strands should be coated with the mushroom mixture and should appear glossy and shiny.
- If you need to add more water do so, or an extra knob of butter. The sauce should look creamy.
- Sprinkle some fresh parsley on top and adorn with your favourite hard cheese. Serve and eat immediately.
