There are all sorts of mushroom sauces, some of which have made their appearance on this blog. The mushroom and tomato sauce, for example, that goes so well with dried pasta, or the mushroom cream sauce for gnocchi or even ox tongue. None of these are very hard to make, but the sauce for this dish of Strozzapreti with Mushrooms may be the simplest of all. It is, for all intents and purposes, nothing more than funghi trifolati (sautéed mushrooms) tossed with pasta. I used strozzapreti pasta today, but just about any pasta will do fine.
Ingredients
Serves 4-6
- 500g (1 lb) strozzapreti pasta
- 500g (1 lb) mushrooms (see Notes), thinly sliced
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, peeled and slightly crushed
- A few sprigs of fresh parsley, trimmed and finely chopped
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Directions
Begin with a simple garlic soffritto, then add sliced mushrooms and sauté, seasoning with salt and pepper, until they have rendered their juices and softened. Turn off the heat and add chopped parsley—while there is still ample mushroom liquid in the skillet.
Meanwhile, boil your strozzapreti (or other pasta of your choice) in abundant, well-salted water until al dente. Add to the mushrooms and mix well, allowing the pasta to absorb the mushroom juice. Serve immediately. No need for grated cheese.
Notes on Strozzapreti with Mushrooms
Any mushroom will work for this dish, including plain button mushrooms, but, of course, wild mushrooms will provide a much more interesting flavor. Porcini or chanterelles (pictured) are particular nice choices. If you are working with button mushrooms, you can give the dish more character by adding dried porcini as described in the post on penne ai funghi. And if your mushrooms, for whatever reason, do not give off any juice, you can add a bit of broth.
The choice of pasta is pretty open. Egg pasta like fettuccine or tagliatelle would also go nicely with this dish, as would spaghetti or a stubby pasta like penne or, as pictured here, strozzapreti. The name of this pasta means ‘priest strangler’ and resemble elongated cavatelli. The name is also used to describe a few others dishes as well. (See this article for details.)
In addition to, or instead of, parsley, if you have access to it, the herb called nepitella gives the dish a nice flavor. (See penne ai funghi for a bit more background on nepitella.)
The sauce for Strozzapreti with Mushrooms can actually serve as a side dish if you continue cooking the mushrooms until their juices have been absorbed and the mushrooms begin to sizzle and brown. It is usually called funghi trifolati, of ‘truffled mushrooms’ because thinly sliced mushrooms made this way are said to resemble truffle shavings.
Strozzapreti ai funghi (Strozzapreti with Mushrooms)
Ingredients
- 500 g 1 lb strozzapreti pasta
- 500 g 1 lb mushrooms (see Notes), thinly sliced
- 2-3 cloves of garlic peeled and slightly crushed
- A few sprigs of fresh parsley trimmed and finely chopped
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Begin with a simple garlic soffritto, then add sliced mushrooms and sauté, seasoning with salt and pepper, until they have rendered their juices and softened. Turn off the heat and add chopped parsley—while there is still ample mushroom liquid in the skillet.
- Meanwhile, boil your strozzapreti (or other pasta of your choice) in abundant, well-salted water until al dente. Add to the mushrooms and mix well, allowing the pasta to absorb the mushroom juice. Serve immediately. No need for grated cheese.
7 Comments on “Strozzapreti ai funghi (Strozzapreti with Mushrooms)”
Thanks, guys, for all your kind comments. Happy cooking! Frank
Have chanterelles; will try it for lunch today! Thanks
hanks for this blog! I SO enjoy reading it…as I am in a journey to 'rediscover' my Italian roots. I know that my family is from the Naples region…so I want to 'learn' cooking form that area, but am interested in it all!
Thanks again!
also, if you know of anyone that could help me in my journey that would be awesome!
Another beautiful dish!
missed this one yesterday – must have been watching that ol' football…but I am glad I saw it on my reader list…thanks Frank…sounds wonderfully delicious…
This looks wonderful – can't wait to try it out. I'm lucky to have a grocery store nearby specializing in assorted gourmet mushrooms. Now I have a reason to buy a few varieties – thanks for sharing!
A lovely dish – it never fails to please and satisfy!
Who would want to make it more complicated? Not me!