We recently went in search of porcinis and chanterelles in Asiago, a beautiful village in the “Pre-alp” mountains of Northern Italy. The idyllic green pastures and soft, sloping mountains were nothing short of breathtaking. After trekking around in them for a couple of days, I felt fiercely alive… and fiercely hungry. Though we only collected a few mushrooms, my friend Anna was kind enough to show me how to make a simple, satisfying mushroom pasta. Italian style.
I found some nice mushrooms at the Central Market in Budapest a few days later, so I decided to give the recipe a go. (Okay, honestly, I forgot the garlic and neglected to take a photo the first time, so I had to give it a go twice—but no one around here was complaining!) Anna originally used fresh parsley and frozen mushrooms. I used frozen parsley and fresh mushrooms.
Her version included stealing parsley from a neighbor’s garden, but you can go ahead and buy yours…
As for the cheese, of course Anna used Asiago. The cheese ranges from firm to soft. It is supposedly healthier than other cheeses, courtesy of the grass-fed mountain cows that intermittently joined our Italian mushroom mountain tour and really went a long way toward making me feel like I was in a Milka ad. I couldn’t find Asiago cheese in Budapest, so I used a combination of Grana Padana and Gruyère.
INGREDIENTS
1/8 cup olive oil
6 cups assorted fresh mushrooms (ideally chanterelles and porcinis)
2 cloves crushed garlic
4 servings dry egg noodles
1/4 cup of parsley, roughly chopped
¾ cup Asiago cheese
Salt and fresh ground pepper to tasteDIRECTIONS
Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add mushrooms and sauté for a couple of minutes. When they start to sweat, add a bit of salt, and cover. Allow them to cook for 5-7 minutes and then add the garlic. Remove from heat after a minute or two. In the meantime, cook pasta in salted water according to package directions. Stir the cheese into the hot mushrooms until it melts. Drain pasta and toss it with mushroom mixture and parsley. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.Serves 4
