maccheroni al ragù di funghi
maccheroni in mushroom ragù
Here's my red mushroom ragù, using the fantastic maccheroni from Pasta Martelli, They're quite close to 'denti di cavallo' (horses' teeth) , one of the shapes of pasta which was originally specified by Pellegrino Artusi in the 19th Century, for Bolognese Ragù. I've used a mix of flat, button, and dried porcini mushrooms and added a hint of cinnamon and a sprinkle of pine nuts.
WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO
(scroll down for the full method)
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chop the mushrooms
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fry mushrooms in wine and garlic
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add cinnamon and pinoli
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add polpa, simmer
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allow time to pass
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2/3rds way though, add milk
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allow time to pass, season
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boil pasta
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combine and plate
maccheroni in mushroom ragù
FOR 4 PEOPLE
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a handful of dried porcini
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250g flat mushrooms
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200g button mushrooms
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400g polpa
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1 clove garlic
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white wine
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handful pinoli
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milk
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dry oregano
PASTA
100g dry Pasta Martelli Maccheroni per person
MANTECATURA
none
METHOD
Begin by soaking the dry porcini in boiling water in a small bowl. Let them sit for at least 30 mins, then change the water and repeat the process. When they're rehydrated, squeeze them in your hand to wring out the liquor. `Keep the rest of it in the bowl for use later.
Chop the dehydrated porcini and treat them as fresh mushrooms. Cook them in a little EVO, a crushed clove of garlic , a pinch of dried oregano and a splash of wine, alongside the other sliced mushrooms. They take 30 mins or so to get tender, which is the point that you can begin to add polpa.
I prefer the balance of flavours in mushroom ragù to be on the side of the mushrooms, so I don't add a whole 400g tin. As you can see from the pictures, it's a brownish rather than a red sauce.
Add the polpa, then allow to simmer. You need to aim to reduce the sauce to a thick, lumpy one - so you'll probably need to leave it on a low simmer of at least another half an hour. You can add a splash of milk, too, at this stage, together with some cinnamon, to taste (just a hint of flavour is what we're after, it's not a tagine!).
Boil the pasta, then when it's done for you transfer it to a pasta tossing pan. Add a ladle of ragù (or to taste) per portion and then toss to combine, possibly with tiny amounts of pasta water, but remember that most pasta that's served with tomato sauces doesn't need to have a long finishing-off ('mantecatura') in the sauce. Often it's a case of less than a minute of tossing to combine sauce and pasta and then plating.