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Things like this are why I love cooking. I saw @MypinchofItaly's beautiful tagliatelle recipe with mushrooms, and it reminded me of how much I love that combination. It also reminded me that I haven't made pasta in a while. But, there's something that happens when you love to cook, and you're also just a little bit crazy. I decided that, rather than making pasta with mushrooms, I'd make pasta with mushrooms inside it. Get comfortable, folks, because I'm taking you on a little journey.
I've made pasta with spinach in the dough, and pasta with tomatoes in the dough. Both vegetables have the same problem: they have a lot of moisture that needs to be dealt with. Mushrooms might not seem like they have moisture in them, but they do. I didn't want the moisture to break down the integrity of the pasta. So, dealing with that was the first step.
Drying out the Mushrooms
I'm probably guilty of some international crime against food for what I did here, but I figured I had to make the mushrooms have the same consistency as the flour. Portobello mushrooms are beautiful and flavorful, which is why I wanted to use them. First, I took the "baby bellas" and sliced them at the 1mm setting on my mandoline:
Then, I heated them at the lowest setting on my oven for an hour. My oven's lowest temp is 170° F. Here's what they looked like after an hour:
Getting there, but not quite good enough, so I scraped up the mushrooms, redistributed them, and cooked them for another hour, which left this:
There was no moisture left at all, so I put them in my coffee grinder (er...mushroom grinder):
Now, it's ready to mix with the flour:
...and form - after a lot of kneading - into the dough:
I was surprised at how dark it made the dough. And, I was very happy with the speckled texture. But, how would it work when I started rolling it out and forming it into pasta? After much trial and error over the years, I've concluded that the best flour to use when making pasta is Italian 00 flour. I shouldn't have worried:
And, finally, the finished product. I did just make a pesto - which admittedly is delicious with the pasta - but I didn't want anything obscuring the speckled beauty of the pasta. So. I roasted some garlic and tossed the pasta with olive oil. Again, my weakness in plating means this doesn't look all that special, but if you zoom in to see the pasta itself, you can see how beautiful it really is:
Now, the recipe. I did see 2 recipes on the internet that showed using dried porcini mushrooms. This is probably okay, but I don't like that this doesn't let you pick your mushrooms. So, you can skip the parts about drying out the mushrooms if you choose, but I really highly recommend it. One other thing that I remember as I write this is that there's a phenomenal smell of mushrooms during the cooking process: the water at the end reminds me of a sort of mushroom broth.
Ingredients
8 ounces baby bella mushrooms
2 cups Italian 00 flour
4 large eggs, thoroughly beaten
1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
Directions
1. Preheat oven to lowest setting (170° F on my oven).
2. Slice mushrooms using a mandoline on the thinnest setting. Place mushroom slices on baking sheets on a single layer. Bake for 1 hour. Scrape up mushrooms from baking sheets and redistribute again in a single layer. Bake for 1 more hour. If there is still moisture in the mushrooms, continue baking in 10 minute increments as needed.
3. Using a coffee grinder or spice grinder, grind dried mushrooms until they reach a powder consistency.
4. Stir mushroom powder into flour with salt. Using a mixer equipped with dough hooks, and running on a low setting, gradually introduce whisked eggs and olive oil. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides as needed. Continue blending until dough pulls from the side of the bowl.
5. Remove dough and whatever dry parts remain and knead on a lightly floured surface until all the dry elements are combined. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and allow to rest for at least 30 minutes.
6. Bring a large pot of water to boil. NOTE: there's no need to add salt to the water, since the pasta contains salt already.
7. Cut dough into 4 pieces. Rewrap 3 of the pieces in the plastic wrap to keep them from drying out. Roll out the dough into a rectangular shape. Using a pasta roller, starting on the widest setting, roll out the dough into a sheet. Cut in half if needed to get the desired length for the pasta. Cut pasta into the desired shape by hand or using the attachments.Hang pasta on drying racks prior to cooking if desired.
8. Place pasta a little bit at a time into the water (one rack at a time if using drying racks). Boil for about 2 minutes, until al dente, and remove from water using tongs. Place on another rack to dry for a few minutes to remove excess moisture. NOTE: don't drain the water!
9. Repeat steps 7 & 8 until all pasta is cooked.
I've made pasta with spinach in the dough, and pasta with tomatoes in the dough. Both vegetables have the same problem: they have a lot of moisture that needs to be dealt with. Mushrooms might not seem like they have moisture in them, but they do. I didn't want the moisture to break down the integrity of the pasta. So, dealing with that was the first step.
Drying out the Mushrooms
I'm probably guilty of some international crime against food for what I did here, but I figured I had to make the mushrooms have the same consistency as the flour. Portobello mushrooms are beautiful and flavorful, which is why I wanted to use them. First, I took the "baby bellas" and sliced them at the 1mm setting on my mandoline:
Then, I heated them at the lowest setting on my oven for an hour. My oven's lowest temp is 170° F. Here's what they looked like after an hour:
Getting there, but not quite good enough, so I scraped up the mushrooms, redistributed them, and cooked them for another hour, which left this:
There was no moisture left at all, so I put them in my coffee grinder (er...mushroom grinder):
Now, it's ready to mix with the flour:
...and form - after a lot of kneading - into the dough:
I was surprised at how dark it made the dough. And, I was very happy with the speckled texture. But, how would it work when I started rolling it out and forming it into pasta? After much trial and error over the years, I've concluded that the best flour to use when making pasta is Italian 00 flour. I shouldn't have worried:
And, finally, the finished product. I did just make a pesto - which admittedly is delicious with the pasta - but I didn't want anything obscuring the speckled beauty of the pasta. So. I roasted some garlic and tossed the pasta with olive oil. Again, my weakness in plating means this doesn't look all that special, but if you zoom in to see the pasta itself, you can see how beautiful it really is:
Now, the recipe. I did see 2 recipes on the internet that showed using dried porcini mushrooms. This is probably okay, but I don't like that this doesn't let you pick your mushrooms. So, you can skip the parts about drying out the mushrooms if you choose, but I really highly recommend it. One other thing that I remember as I write this is that there's a phenomenal smell of mushrooms during the cooking process: the water at the end reminds me of a sort of mushroom broth.
Ingredients
8 ounces baby bella mushrooms
2 cups Italian 00 flour
4 large eggs, thoroughly beaten
1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
Directions
1. Preheat oven to lowest setting (170° F on my oven).
2. Slice mushrooms using a mandoline on the thinnest setting. Place mushroom slices on baking sheets on a single layer. Bake for 1 hour. Scrape up mushrooms from baking sheets and redistribute again in a single layer. Bake for 1 more hour. If there is still moisture in the mushrooms, continue baking in 10 minute increments as needed.
3. Using a coffee grinder or spice grinder, grind dried mushrooms until they reach a powder consistency.
4. Stir mushroom powder into flour with salt. Using a mixer equipped with dough hooks, and running on a low setting, gradually introduce whisked eggs and olive oil. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides as needed. Continue blending until dough pulls from the side of the bowl.
5. Remove dough and whatever dry parts remain and knead on a lightly floured surface until all the dry elements are combined. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and allow to rest for at least 30 minutes.
6. Bring a large pot of water to boil. NOTE: there's no need to add salt to the water, since the pasta contains salt already.
7. Cut dough into 4 pieces. Rewrap 3 of the pieces in the plastic wrap to keep them from drying out. Roll out the dough into a rectangular shape. Using a pasta roller, starting on the widest setting, roll out the dough into a sheet. Cut in half if needed to get the desired length for the pasta. Cut pasta into the desired shape by hand or using the attachments.Hang pasta on drying racks prior to cooking if desired.
8. Place pasta a little bit at a time into the water (one rack at a time if using drying racks). Boil for about 2 minutes, until al dente, and remove from water using tongs. Place on another rack to dry for a few minutes to remove excess moisture. NOTE: don't drain the water!
9. Repeat steps 7 & 8 until all pasta is cooked.
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I think it's only passion for cooking. Tagliatelle could inspired a lot!
