Hello everyone. I hope you're doing okay. The pandemic has been calling for a lot of comfort food, though I haven't been really happy with a lot of the things I've been cooking of late until today. That is why you haven't heard from me in a while
I try to shop sales and this week, I lucked out to find some chanterelle mushrooms at a reduced price. Then an idea popped into my head to bring out that buttery flavor and mouthfeel and I came up with this:
- 4 oz bacon chopped into 1/2 -inch pieces (pancetta could also be used here)
- 8 oz dry pasta I recommend orchiette or something that will hold a creamy sauce. Shells could work, though when peas get caught in shells, they kind of look like eyeballs. That might not amuse everyone at your table.
- 1/2 Cup heavy cream
- 6-7 ounces green peas--I used canned 'very young' ones. They're nicely tender. If you're using frozen, I recommend thawing first and draining off excess water.
- 4 oz chanterelle mushrooms, chopped into 3/4 inch pieces
- One big shallot or two small ones, diced into 1/4 inch pieces (the big one was too big to enclose in my hand)
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 3 oz Grana Padano cheese, grated. Parmesan works here, but Padano is more affordable much of the time.
- ground black pepper to taste
Rinse the mushrooms, pat dry with paper towels. Chop them into 3/4 inch pieces or thereabouts. Throw them in a colander and rinse. Since chantarelles have that fluted fluffy top, it's easy for dirt to be missed on the first rinse. Shake the colander up and down a few times to get more water out. Put them on a plate with paper towels.
Cook your bacon to desired crunchiness. I've always found it useful to start cooking bacon on low heat and then bringing it up slowly to medium/medium high. Remove from pan onto paper towels. Drain the fat, but don't wash the pan. Turn the heat to medium-low.
Melt butter and put in your shallots, stirring constantly until they begin to turn brown. You might want to have a glass of your favorite beverage handy during this step, this takes a while, but it's worth it.
Once your shallots are brown, add the mushrooms, stirring constantly for about two minutes. Slowly add the cream, then the peas, and keep stirring for another minute, then toss in your bacon. Gradually stir in the cheese until it's absorbed.
Put the heat down to low and cook your pasta. Stir every once in a while. You're going to get a light red/brown because the bacon will color the sauce.
Drain your pasta. Add it to the sauce, stir well. Have pepper handy so it can be added to taste. Makes 3 servings.
The pictures I tried to take really didn't show off the ingredients, so we'll have to do without this time.
Note that there isn't any flour in the sauce. You really don't need it, it will thicken up of its own accord. If you're not eating a wheat pasta, this recipe is gluten-free.
This recipe is pretty flexible too. Easy enough to double if you want to cook a pound of pasta. The chickpea pasta I like comes in 8 oz boxes.
I had a lot of leftover peas--it was a 15oz can. I threw the bulk of them in some leftover Indian food that will be eaten tomorrow. Not sure what to do with the rest.
Next up: Cocoa Corner
