Pasta Boscaiola

By alexi57

Fresh pappardelle is lightly coated with a delicious sauce of mushrooms, prosciutto, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and a bit of cream.

Ingredients

• salt
• 8 oz button (or wild) mushrooms
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 to 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 tbsp parsley
• 4 oz prosciutto, thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes (packed in olive oil)
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 tsp red chili flakes
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp grapeseed oil
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 lb fresh (or 8 oz dried) pasta - see note
• kosher salt (to taste)
• freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
• parmesan cheese (for garnishing)
• chili flakes, for serving (optional)
• extra-virgin olive oil, for finishing (optional)

Details

Servings 4
Cooking time 30mins
Adapted from rouxbe.com

Preparation

Step 1

Place a large pot of cold water on the stove top and bring to a boil while you prepare your mise en place. Once the water is boiling, season with salt. Note: Season the water with approximately 1 tsp per litre/quart of water.
To prepare your mise en place, first clean and slice the mushrooms. Emince the garlic. Remove the leaves from the thyme and roughly chop. Do the same for the parsley. Grate the parmesan cheese. Cut the prosciutto into bite-size pieces. Drain and squeeze the excess oil from the sun-dried tomatoes and measure 1/3 cup. Cut them into julienne strips, if needed. Measure out the white wine, cream and chili flakes and set everything aside.

To start the dish:
heat a large, stainless-steel fry pan over high heat. Once hot, add the grapeseed oil, immediately followed by the mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Saute the mushrooms until they start to turn golden and then add 1 tablespoon of the butter.

Pasta Note:
For this recipe we used fresh, hand-cut pappardelle noodles. You may want to double the Basic Pasta Dough recipe to serve 4 people. If you are using fresh pasta, don't start cooking it until the sauce is almost done, as it will only need a few minutes to cook through (see note below).
Dried pasta (rigatoni, penne, cavatelli, bow tie or fusilli) also works very well. If using dried pasta, add it to the boiling, salted water now and stir. Let cook while you finish the sauce.

To continue with the sauce:
Once the mushrooms are golden brown, reduce the heat to medium-high and add the prosciutto. Once the prosciutto is heated through, add the chili flakes and garlic. Let cook until the garlic is fragrant, about a minute or so. If the mixture looks a bit dry, add in the other tablespoon of butter.
Next, add the sun-dried tomatoes and deglaze with the white wine. Stir, scraping up any bits from the bottom of the pan. Let the white wine reduce almost completely before adding the cream and thyme. Reduce the heat. Let the cream simmer and reduce slightly.

Pasta Note:
In the meantime, check the dried pasta for doneness (if using). If you are using fresh pasta, start cooking it at this point. It will only take a few minutes to cook through and become tender.

Once the pasta is done, drain, reserving approximately 1 cup of the cooking water.
Transfer the drained pasta to the sauce and toss gently to coat. Use some of the reserved pasta water to thin the sauce down, if necessary. The sauce should just coat the pasta.
Sprinkle the parmesan cheese and chopped parsley over top and toss gently to combine. Taste for seasoning.

Serve in warmed bowls. Top with additional parmesan cheese, chili flakes and a splash of extra-virgin olive oil, if desired.