Pappardelle con Funghi, Pancetta affumicata e Zafferano. A first course distinctly rich in taste. We used simple button mushrooms but any other type of mushroom is fine, even the dried ones.
Serves 4, Preparation 20 mins, Cooking 25 mins
- 350 g Pappardelle Pasta
- 1 sachet of saffron powder (0.16 g) or 30 saffron threads, to dilute
- Diced smoked Pancetta,100 g
- Champignon/Button mushrooms, 300 g
- half an onion, finely sliced
- salt and black pepper, to taste
- A sprig of fresh parsley, chopped
- EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 2 tablespoons
Method
Clean mushrooms only with a damp cloth removing the soil (if any) from the stalks and trimming the tough end, then slice the mushrooms.
Gently fry the sliced onion in a pan with 2 tablespoons of EVOO for a few minutes, add mushrooms, parsley, season with salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes.
In a separate saucepan, heat a tablespoon of EVOO and fry smoked pancetta until crispy, then add it to the pan with mushrooms and stir.
Bring a pot of salted water to the boil and cook Pappardelle. Meanwhile save a small glass of pasta cooking water in which dissolve the saffron powder.
Tip: In general, be careful not to add too much saffron to a dish, otherwise it goes from a pronounced sweet earthy flavor to a bitter taste.
Save another glass of cooking water, drain Pappardelle and add to the pan with mushrooms and Pancetta, add diluted saffron, stir, add the glass of cooking water to get more creaminess, mix well and serve.
5 Comments
Fiorenza, I have never heard of smoked pancetta. Is it a traditional Italian product? Does it go by a different name?
This dish sounds amazing… The only pancetta I have in the house now is my own home cured version, but it’s not smoked. Let me know… I’m very curious.
Yes David, smoked pancetta – pancetta affumicata is cured and smoked Italian pork belly, a traditional product. You can replace it with Speck Ham (smoked) if you can get it over there otherwise your home cured pancetta work very well!
We can easily get speck, though I might be able to smoke some of my pancetta in a stove top smoker. Thanks – I will report back!
I ended up using spec, and this was wonderful! So different from many of the things I have made. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m so happy you made and liked it! Speck worked fine then, I’ll make this again by using it next time. Thanks for your feedback, David!
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