Monday, October 20, 2008

Pennette Baked with Mushrooms, Cream, and Parmigiana Reggiano

Pasta, mushrooms, and cheese is one of my most favorite combinations. Regular criminis, any old pasta, and domestic parmesan would make a very satisfying meal for me, but elevating it by using local, organic shitakes, organic cream, premium pasta, and excellent quality parmigiana reggiano makes me a very, very happy diner. So, this meal had no chance of disappointing, but I’ll go further and suggest that there isn’t a bad pasta dish to be found in the book I was using. I’ve written about it before and I’m sure I will again, because everything I’ve cooked from it has been outstanding. In my opinion, On Top of Spaghetti by Johanne Killeen and George Germon can do no wrong. I’ve never visited Al Forno, but I would consider purchasing a ticket to Providence, RI just for that purpose.

In the book, this dish is found under the title Ziti Baked with Mushrooms, Cream, and Parmigiana Reggiano. I found skinny, little pennette that I couldn’t resist and used that instead. Other than that, I made two small changes to the recipe. To the sautéed onion and shallots, I chose to add garlic. Then, the fennel and mushrooms joined the sauté pan with fresh bay leaves, parsley, thyme, and marjoram. I omitted the mint as I often do. My fall herb garden is beginning to take shape, and all but the parsley came from it. Once the mushrooms are cooked, a liberal portion of cream and the parmigiana were added. Half cooked pasta and a little pasta water were stirred into the mix, all was transferred to a baking dish, into the 500 degree oven it went for all of 10 minutes, and dinner is served.

Upon tasting this, Kurt inadvertently performed the climax scene of every food tv show by tilting his head and murmuring mmmmmmmm. But, he meant it. How could he not; it was warm, melty, and richly satisfying. The fennel had cooked down to its mellow, sweet state and served to round out the character of the onion, shallot, and garlic. The mushrooms’ earthiness interplayed with the parmigiana as perfectly as it always does. This certainly didn’t need any additional embellishment, but if my bottle of truffle oil hadn’t been empty a drop or two would have been sublime.


10 comments:

  1. Here is the sad news: my husband hates mushrooms. How sad for me.
    I would love to make this dish. It looks so satisfying and rich and delicious. I make a wild mushroom tart for company (when there are other choices) and I love it! Another beautiful meal by YOU!

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  2. how lovely! the colors of the mushrooms are beautiful... and i love parm - anywhere, anytime!!

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  3. Look at those mushrooms......whoa!

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  4. i want this. because this is my kind of comfort food. this is heaven to me... yesterday i sauteed up $10 (4 oz) worth of chanterelles and grilled a tomato and poached an egg and called it lunch. very happy camper. pasta would have helped...

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  5. here's my sad news--i hate mushrooms. however, i do like pasta, cream, and cheese, so this dish is a-ok with me. :)

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  6. Mushroom haters--how can this be? They're my favorite, but I don't eat a lot of meat so they fill that void. Actually, I'm the pickiest eater there is, and I constantly substitute ingredients. Try this with another veg or grilled chicken instead of mushrooms.

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  7. Mushrooms, pasta and cheese are one of my favorite combos as well and this baked pasta sounds great!

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  8. A perfect combo to me too! Looks SO tasty....Hmmmmm.....I can "feel" the smell coming from my kitchen now....

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  9. oooh! this looks so good. anything with cream and mushrooms sounds delicious to me.

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  10. Mmm that's a nice dinner right there. Delicious.

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