Recipe and styling by Chris Erasmus
Photograph by Toby Murphy
Porcini and bacon pappardelle
Ingredients
PASTA
- 500g “00” flour
- 1 tsp porcini mushroom powder (available at speciality delis and sagrafoods.com)
- ½ tsp salt
- 12 egg yolks
- 3 whole eggs
- 1 tbsp olive oil
PORCINI AND BACON CREAM
- 2 tbsp dried porcini mushrooms/porcini powder
- 500ml (2 cups) chicken stock, boiling
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp butter
- 200g bacon, diced
- 200g fresh porcini, diced
- 1 onion, peeled and diced
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
- 5ml (1 tsp) fresh thyme, chopped
- 250ml (1 cup) fresh cream
- 100g Parmesan, grated + extra, to serve
Instructions
For the pasta, place all of the dry ingredients in a blender. Whisk the eggs and olive oil together in a separate bowl. Add a third of the egg mixture to the blender while blitzing.
After 10 seconds, add ½ of the remaining egg mixture. Blitz, 20 seconds, and add the remaining mixture. Blitz until the dough forms into a ball, remove from blender and knead, 2 minutes.
Wrap the pasta in cling film and leave to rest, 30 minutes. Roll out thinly, cut into pappardelle and blanch in a large pot of salted water, about 3 minutes.
For the sauce, pour the hot stock over the dried porcini or porcini powder in a jug, leave to infuse, 10 minutes, and strain through a sieve.
Heat a large pot over medium heat, add the olive oil and butter, and allow to turn golden, about 3 minutes. Add the bacon and colour lightly, add the fresh porcini mushrooms and cook until fragrant, about 10 minutes.
Reduce the heat to low and add the onion, garlic and thyme, and sauté until soft, 10 minutes. Add the mushroom stock and cook until reduced by ¾. Add the fresh cream and simmer gently until it thickens slightly.
Add the blanched pasta and the Parmesan, and serve immediately, sprinkled with a little extra Parmesan.
