This weekend I found myself the lucky recipient of a bag of fresh golden chanterelles. I know not everyone get as excited about these things as I do, but I felt like a kid on Christmas morning!
If you have not had the opportunity to cook with chanterelles, I highly recommend it. Not only are they delicious they are high in potassium, vitamin A and D, and contain amino acids that help boost the immune system and may help fight cancer, infections and rheumatoid arthritis.
These mushrooms have a delicate peppery flavor and a hardy meaty texture. I wanted to make a dish where the mushrooms would stand out as the main flavor component, so I chose fresh pasta made from scratch. Although you could use a dried or even store bought fresh pasta, taking a bit more time to make it from scratch is worth the extra effort.
I also wanted this pasta to be completely vegan. You may notice that most homemade pasta recipes include eggs, however it’s very easy to create an eggless pasta by adding semolina four.
Pasta Ingredients:
1 cup semolina flour
1 cup all purpose flour
½ cup-1 cup water
¼ teaspoon salt (optional)
Mushrooms:
2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 leek, cut in half lengthwise then thinly sliced
2 cups chanterelles sliced- about 1/4” thick
1 clove of garlic very finely chopped
1/2 cup dry vermouth
Flat leaf parsley
salt and pepper to taste
Mound flour on a large wooden cutting board.
Make a well in the center of the flour and add water a little at a time, stirring with a fork until the flour has enough liquid for the dough to come together.
The dough will be sticky, but should not be wet. Gather the dough to form a ball.
Kneed the dough for 3 minutes. Scrape up all the sticky bits from the board, then re-flour the board. Continue kneading for 3 more minutes. Dust board with flour when necessary.
The dough should be elastic and a little sticky. Cover the dough with a slightly damp towel and set aside while cooking the mushrooms.
Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add leeks and cook for a few minutes until soft.
Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper, cover and cook until soft and they begin to release their water- about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about minute or two. Next add the vermouth and continue to cook for another minute until the liquid reduces to about ½. Add about 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley.
Adjust the salt and pepper if necessary. Cover and turn off heat.
Roll out the pasta.
Run through the fettuccini blade.
Place about ½ the noodles in boiling salted water. Fresh pasta only takes about a minute- be careful not to overcook. Store the remaining uncooked noodles in the fridge- they will keep fresh for several days.
Drain the pasta- reserving some of the cooking liquid. Gently toss pasta in the pan with the mushrooms- add a few tablespoons of the reserved liquid if the pasta is dry. Serve pasta in bowls, drizzle with a good amount of extra virgin olive oil and fresh ground pepper.
Servings: 2 main course or 4 smaller servings.
2 comments:
That looks delicious! One other trick I've learned to not create too much gluten in fresh pasta is to knead it only until it springs back when you poke it. Once that happens, leave it alone.
Jamie, thanks for the tip!
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