There’s been a SeriousEats pasta recipe that I have had my eye on for a few months, but it has never made that much sense to make a Fall weather meal in the middle of a hot summer. But lately I’ve been catching the cool breeze and smells of Autumn, and it seemed like the right time to try it.
I started out following the recipe to a “T”, but quickly deviated when the smell of porcini mushrooms rehydrating started permeating the air of my kitchen…
Penne Boscaiola
Equipment
- Dutch oven
Ingredients
- 12 oz thick-cut smoked bacon cut into thin strips
- 18 oz mixed mushrooms such as cremini, shitaki, oyster… thinly sliced
- Extra virgin olive oil as needed
- 1 medium onion sliced
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp minced fresh thyme leaves
- 28 oz can peeled whole tomatoes and their juices crushed by hand
- ¾ c dry white wine
- 16 oz tubular pasta such as penne or rigatoni
- ¾ c heavy cream
- 3 oz fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Instructions
- In a large Dutch oven or large sauté pan, cook bacon over medium-high heat, stirring often, until browned, about 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate using a slotted spoon.
- Add mushrooms to the rendered bacon fat, and cook, stirring often, until mushrooms have browned and have released their moisture. If at any point the pot becomes too dry, add a small splash of olive oil.
- Add onion, garlic, and thyme, then cook, stirring frequently, until onion and garlic are soft and lightly golden, about 6 to 8 minutes. Again, if pot becomes too dry, add a bit of olive oil. Season with salt.
- Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil, and add a large pinch of salt. Add pasta and cook until just shy of al dente (about 1 minute less than typical). Reserve 1 ½ cups of pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta.
- Add drained pasta and cream to the sauce, and bring to a simmer. Add reserved pasta-cooking water as needed to thin the sauce. Cook until pasta is al dente and sauce forms a creamy sheen that coats the pasta. Remove pasta and sauce from heat and stir in cheese. Serve hot.
Notes
Overall, this is a really easy recipe to make, and though it could probably do with a bit more simmering than the recipe or I gave it, it’s relatively quick and easy. I scratched my head a bit at crushing the canned tomatoes, but ended up using a potato masher! That was fun, and exceptionally quick.
MM enjoyed it, though he was disappointed that the bacon really didn’t have a lot of flavor (I was disappointed, too!). We both agreed that next time, we should use homemade pasta, as we think that’ll add even better flavor and texture to the dish. Also, I have no idea how they came up with 4 servings! It easily could serve 6-8!
Very good meal, and easy leftovers for those of us with small households. Try it out and let me know what you think!
