Wild Mushroom and Arugula Tagliatelle
Possibly as many as three Christmases ago, Shannon filled my stocking with several boxes of various dried mushrooms. I used the morels for a risotto within a week and then promptly forgot that I had the remaining packages. I rediscovered them yesterday and decided to turn them into something before they started to fossilize.
You would think after forgetting about them for several years and finding them again still edible, that would be the best trait of dried mushrooms: their shelf life. Possibly this is the case if faced with the apocalypse, but otherwise I think their best attribute is that they can be used to make their own flavorful broth. Dried mushrooms are rarely cheap, but they infuse so much flavor for their size that they’re definitely nice to have on hand, for that one day one year down the road when you remember to use them.
I’m not sure where the aversion to dressing salads or saucing pastas before they reach your plate comes from. Maybe from feeding picky children? I don’t know, but if you think you’re in a half decent restaurant and they serve you salad dressing in a dish on the side (or worse, in a packet) and you didn’t request it, you should probably walk out before the next course arrives. Unless you’re into that sort of thing, I guess, then God help you and whatever dressing-adverse diet you’re suffering through.
Saucing your pasta should be part of the cooking process so that it absorbs the flavors of the sauce itself, whether it be a hearty ragu or a just a light fruity olive oil. I don’t know why people don’t do this so often, but it drives me nuts. Ahem. Anyhow, this is the kind of pasta dish that is not so much sauced as it is flavored with its constituents. Tagliatelle like this would be traditionally prepared with porcini mushrooms and parsley, but, you know, it’s kind of the same thing, just more peppery.
- 2 cups boiling water
- 1/2 ounce dried wild mushrooms
- 6 ounces dried tagliatelle
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh sage, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, finely ground
- 2-3 cups baby arugula leaves
- 1 ounce Parmesan cheese, grated
- salt to taste
- Pour the boiling water over the dried mushrooms in a small bowl and allow to sit for several minutes to rehydrate.
- Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. When it is boiling rapidly, plunge in the tagliatelle.
- In a frying pan over medium heat, melt the butter with the olive oil, sage and black pepper. When the foaming of the butter subsides, drain the mushrooms and add to the pan, reserving the liquid. Saute the mushrooms for a minute or two, season with salt and set aside.
- When the pasta is al dente, return the frying pan to the heat and crank it to high. Strain the pasta and add it to the pan, tossing to coat. Add a ladle or two of the reserved mushroom liquid, straining if necessary to remove sediment, and allow to cook down into the pasta.
- Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the arugula until it is just wilted. Stir in the parmesan cheese as well and season to taste with salt before serving immediately.
This is enough for two people as a main course.