Capellini (aka Angels Hair) with Wild Mushrooms and Prosciutto. This recipe you can use bacon instead of Prosciutto, but don’t skip the wild mushrooms as they add way more flavor than the typical white mushroom.
Ingredients:
Yield: 4 servings
- ½ pound wild mushrooms such as shiitake, morels or oyster mushrooms or an equal weight of cultivated mushrooms
- 6 plum tomatoes, about ¾ pound
- ¼ pound thinly sliced prosciutto
- ½ pound snow pea pods
- ¼ cup olive oil
- Salt to taste if desired
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon finely minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped jalapeno peppers, optional
- 1sprig fresh rosemary or ½ teaspoon dried
- ½ pound Rustichella d’Abruzzo Capellini
- 1½ cups heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus additional cheese to be served on the side
- ½ cup shredded fresh basil
Preparation
Step 1: Rinse the mushrooms and pat them dry. Cut off and reserve the stems. Cut the caps into thin strips. There should be about 4 cups of caps and stems combined.
Step 2: Core the tomatoes and cut into ½-inch cubes.
Step 3: Cut the prosciutto into very thin strips. There should be about 1½ cups.
Step 4: Pull off, if necessary, any tough ”strings” from the pea pods. There should be about 2 cups of pea pods. Put them in a saucepan and add water to cover. Bring to the boil and simmer one minute. Drain.
Step 5: Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large, heavy casserole and add the mushrooms, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, about 3 minutes and add the garlic, jalapeno peppers and prosciutto. Cook, stirring, about one minute. Add the rosemary.
Step 6: Add the capellini to 3 quarts of boiling water and stir so that the strands are submerged. Cook about four minutes or to the desired degree of doneness. Reserve ½ cup of the cooking liquid. Drain the pasta.
Step 7: Add the tomatoes to the mushroom mixture and stir. Add the cream and bring to a boil. Add the pasta, pea pods and reserved pasta cooking liquid to the casserole and stir. Add the butter, ¼ cup Parmesan cheese and shredded basil and toss to blend. Serve with additional Parmesan cheese on the side.
Courtesy NY Times Cooking
