{"id":523,"date":"2017-01-27T10:58:12","date_gmt":"2017-01-27T17:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/villasentieri.com\/?post_type=recipe&p=523"},"modified":"2026-09-02T10:59:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T17:59:22","slug":"pasta-funghi-recipe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/villasentieri.com\/index.php\/2017\/01\/27\/pasta-funghi-recipe\/","title":{"rendered":"Pasta ai Funghi (Pasta with Mushrooms)"},"content":{"rendered":"

January 27, 2017<\/span><\/p>\n

Growing up, pasta was almost always served with a long-cooked Southern Italian ragu.\u00a0 Yes, there was the occasional sauce of vegetables saut\u00e9ed in olive oil till they softened enough to make a sauce but those sauces\u00a0were the exception to the rule.<\/p>\n

These days, a long-cooked ragu is still the epitome of pasta cooking for me but far more often I make quicker sauces.\u00a0 Pasta with mushrooms is one of them.<\/p>\n

In my last post<\/a>, I introduced nepita, an herb used in Italy that is really not commonly available in the US.\u00a0 Nepita pairs really well with mushrooms.\u00a0 The nepita that I use is from plants that we grow from seeds we brought back from Italy in 1996.\u00a0 I\u2019m so concerned that one day our nepita won\u2019t make it through the winter and reappear in the spring that we\u2019ve taken to backing it up the way other folks back up their data.<\/p>\n

Over the years we\u2019ve gifted nepita plants to friends who like to garden.\u00a0 Should a disaster ever befall our nepita, there should still be a clone of it somewhere with enough seeds that we can germinate another plant or two.\u00a0 For an herb that I\u2019ve only known for 20 years, it\u2019s become an integral part of my kitchen.<\/p>\n

While there\u2019s no real substitute for nepita, there are lots of herbs that go well with mushrooms.\u00a0 In this rendition, I\u2019ve called for basil and oregano, the combination that I usually use when I don\u2019t have nepita.\u00a0 Marjoram also works well, with or without a pinch of thyme, but marjoram is a relatively uncommon herb in Italian cooking.<\/p>\n

Herbs are not a major player in this dish.\u00a0 Though nepita is distinctive, there are so many layers of flavor from the dried porcini, onion, garlic, and marsala that the lack of nepita isn’t really a big deal.\u00a0 Basil and oregano work well and, in fact, are what I used before that 1996 trip to Tuscany where I discovered nepita.<\/p>\n

Pasta ai Funghi was one of the courses I served at my father-in-law’s birthday dinner last week.\u00a0 Here are a couple of pictures of that dinner from our home in Palm Springs.<\/p>\n

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My father-in-law (left) and mother-in-law. Good friend, Gino Barcone is in between.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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From left to right, John Berl, Bill Hoadley, and Bob Bauernschmitt.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Pasta ai Funghi (Pasta with Mushrooms)<\/h2>\n
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While many mushroom-based sauces for pasta contain cream and butter, this one uses only olive oil. It creates a beautiful, glossy sauce. The mushrooms can be prepared several hours in advance making this an ideal dish if you are cooking for company.<\/div>\n
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Prep Time <\/span>25 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div>
Cook Time <\/span>35 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div>
Total Time <\/span>1 hour<\/span><\/span> hr<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n
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Servings: <\/span>6<\/span> people<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Ingredients
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