My son Filippo is 15 years old and, like all teenagers, he is always ravenous; if he comes home from school after two o’clock it becomes a deadly mix! He’s so hungry that he usually calls me as soon as he gets off the bus to ask what I’ve prepared for him.
It has happened more than once that I didn’t have time and he found himself with a plate of buttered pasta, and he ate it without complaining; however, when I have time I’m happy to make him something different because I’m sure it will make him happy!
If a different sauce from the usual is enough to bring a smile, it’s worth it! Sometimes a little is enough to make a simple tomato sauce special and in our case we’ll use porcini mushrooms. Their season is unfortunately short but you can stock up in the freezer, either the mushrooms themselves or the sauce already ready to use.
So we’ll prepare a very quick and easy porcini mushroom sauce with which we’ll dress vegetable ravioli. Don’t worry—the ravioli I bought from my trusted pasta maker… mother’s love yes, but I don’t want to die!!!
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Cooking time: 25 Minutes
- Portions: 4 SERVINGS
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 11 oz Porcini mushrooms (fresh)
- 1.2 oz Dried porcini mushrooms
- 1 cup Tomato passata
- 1 sprig Parsley
- 1 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove Garlic
- 1 pinch Sugar
- to taste Salt
Preparation
First of all, clean the mushrooms. It’s very easy; just follow a few precautions, such as never putting them under running water!!!!! But let’s go in order. Detach the cap from the stem, turn it upside down and, holding the knife blade flat, gently scrape it. Then take a soft cloth, dampen it and rub it over all parts of the porcini to clean it thoroughly. This is because, as I told you, mushrooms should never be washed since they are very spongy and would immediately absorb water and become soggy. Cut them into strips not too small. Meanwhile, soak the dried mushrooms in a cup with a little warm water to rehydrate them.
In a pan, preferably nonstick, put the oil and the garlic clove cut in half, having previously removed the green shoot. Place it over the heat and let it sauté over low heat for 2 minutes. Add the fresh mushrooms and the rehydrated dried mushrooms which in the meantime you will have removed from the water and lightly squeezed to remove excess liquid. Season with salt and cook for another 5 minutes. At this point remove the garlic and add the tomato passata. Add a pinch of sugar to remove the acidity of the tomato, and let it simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring from time to time, preferably with a wooden spoon. When finished cooking, turn off the heat and set aside.
Meanwhile, put a pot with plenty of salted water on the heat. When it comes to a boil, add the ravioli which will require about 3 minutes of cooking. From the moment they begin to float, count three minutes. In any case, tasting one will not make you miss the timing. The pasta should be firm but not hard.
Shortly before draining them, reheat the sauce in the pan. Pour the drained ravioli into the pan and over high heat gently toss them in the sauce. To avoid breaking them, don’t stir with a spoon but move the pan so the sauce distributes evenly. Plate and, if you like, sprinkle with grated Parmesan.
Notes
With this sauce you can dress all types of fresh pasta: tagliatelle, tagliolini, fettuccine, or prepare baked lasagna where instead of the classic ragù you will use the mushroom sauce. If you don’t feel like making or buying fresh pasta, dried pasta will also work fine. In that case, drain it a bit al dente and toss it in the pan with the sauce until fully cooked, possibly adding a tablespoon of the pasta cooking water. Once prepared, this sauce keeps in the refrigerator for 2 days, but you can easily freeze it and take it out of the freezer as needed.
