Creamy Pesto and Mushroom Fettuccine

(serves 2 full portions)
This is an easy fast pasta, something that can be cooked from scratch in under 15 minutes, great for those times you suddenly find out you need to whip out something from the kitchen immediately, or if this is the first time you are making pasta. The key to its speed is pesto, a great alternative to cutting up and frying a proper mirepoix or sofritto. It contains herbs, so you also don’t need to worry about adding any yourself. The mushrooms do a good job of soaking up flavour to go with the pasta. To sum up: it may be fast but it still looks and tastes great.  

Ingredients

1. Pesto Genevese (4t)
2. White Mushrooms (140g)
3. Garlic (6 cloves = 1/2 bulb)
4. Parmigiano Reggiano (40g)
5. Fettuccine (160g)
6. Cream (100ml)
7. Chicken stock cube (1/2)
8. Cognac (1T)  

Preparation 

1. Put a pot of water to boil for the pasta. 
2. Grate the Parmigiano. For decorative purposes before grating you can, if you like, make some shavings of the cheese with a potato peeler.
3. Manually break off and discard the stems of your mushrooms. Slice them top down into 1/8 inch thick pieces.
4. Peel the garlic and put it through a garlic press. You should end up with 2 heaped t of garlic.
5. Add a dash of olive oil and 1t of salt to the pot of boiling water, followed by the fettuccine.
6. Put 3T of olive oil, 4t (heaping) of pesto and the minced garlic in a pan on medium heat. When the mixture is bubbling, add the mushrooms. Reduce to low heat and sautee.
7. Mash half a chicken stock cube in 1/4 cup of hot water. 
8. When the mushrooms begin to soften, add 100 ml cream, the chicken stock plus 1T of cognac. Stir fry till the liquid is boiling. Sprinkle on the grated cheese, turn the heat off and continue stirring as the cheese melts. 
9. After the pasta has been boiling for about 7 minutes, drain it. It will still be a bit hard. Add the pasta to the pan with the sauce and toss fry on low heat till the pasta is al dente. This pasta dish is meant to be dryish (see photo) but if the pan begins to dry too much, sprinkle on a bit of water or cream.
10. Season with a touch of black pepper before serving.

Notes

• To my friends who protest my recipes are too ‘complicated’, well here you go. The preparation describes everything done in parallel to save on time. If you like you can cook in stages. Cut the vegetables first, then make the sauce, and finally boil the pasta.
• This recipe is very scalable. To make pasta for 4, just double the amounts, the cooking time remains unchanged.
• I keep a bottle of store bought minced garlic in oil in the fridge for recipes where minced garlic is cooked. A great time saver. The same goes with pesto, no need to make it fresh if you are not eating it raw.
• Pesto is slightly sour already, so don’t substitute the brandy with something sour like wine.

 

Mushrooms Sauteed in Rillette

(serves 6)
This recipe is just what its name suggests, mushrooms sauteed in rillette. Some recipes use chicken stock and/or white wine to add flavour. Thats all well and good since plain sauteed mushrooms taste…. plain. The problem with stock and wine of course is they contain a lot of water which you always try to avoid when sauteeing mushrooms. This recipe sidesteps the additional water by using rillette and cognac.  

Ingredients

1. Mushrooms (200g)
2. Duck Rillette (100g)
3. Garlic (6 cloves = 1/2 bulb)
4. Thyme
5. Cognac

Preparation 

1. It doesn’t really matter what kind of musrooms you use as long as they are not too small. I usually just use plain brown or white mushrooms.
2. Cut the mushrooms into slices which are 1/3 inch thick.
3. Put enough garlic through a garlic press to get 3t of crushed garlic.
4. In a large pan, heat the rillette on high heat until the fat melts. You should mash any clumps of meat with a wooden spatula.
5. When the pan is really hot, add the mushrooms. Stir the mushrooms every minute or so and turn the heat down to medium after 3 minutes and add the garlic, followed by a good stir. Do not cover as you want the water from the mushrooms to evapourate.
6. At around the 7 minute mark, the mushrooms should have shrunk nicely. Sprinkle in 1t of chopped thyme and 1T of cognac. Turn the heat down further and continue sauteeing for a final minute.
7. After the fire is off, sprinkle on 1t of black pepper. Add salt a pinch at a time til the taste is just right. You may even wish to avoid salt altogether depending on how salty your rillette is.

Notes

• There are three main ways to use sauteed mushrooms. As a side vegetable, as a topping for steaks and burgers, or as a flavouring ingredient of a salad.
• Having more than 200g of mushrooms per pan will leave insufficient room for contact to the pan, and insufficient room for water to evaporate. If you are cooking an amount that is larger than specified, do so in batches.
• If your mushrooms are dirty, wipe them with a damp cloth. Since sauteeing is basically a drying process, washing in water will make the mushrooms too wet since water will be trapped in the gills under the caps.
• Yes can try pork or goose rillette as alternatives. For more information on rillette, refer to this post.

 

Lasagna Carbonara

(serves 4-5)
How does one go about marrying lasagna with carbonara? I’ve used pretty much the same run-of-the-mill ingredients as you would find in any carbonara : bacon, pasta, parmigiano, egg yolk; but I had to get a little creative to make it work, introducing a juicy bacon terrine to house the ‘carbonara’ between the layers of lasagna pasta and mushrooms. The end result is another kobi-original.  

Ingredients

1. Bacon (12 slices)
2. Marscapone (250g)
3. Parmigiano Reggiano (100g)
4. Emmental (100g)
5. Eggs (2)
6. Brown Mushrooms (200g)
7. Onion (1)
8. Lasagna (8 slices)
9. Bread (4 Slices)
10. Milk (1 cup)
11. White Wine (1/2 cup)
12. Oregano
13. Turmeric

Preparation 

1. Dice the onion and cut the mushrooms into 1/4 inch slices.
2. Cut the bread into cubes after trimming away the crust. Soak the bread in a mixture of 1 cup of milk and two egg yolks. Use a large bowl as you will be adding more things to it later.
3. Finely grate the parmigiano reggiano. Slice the emmental into thin pieces.
4. Stack your bacon on the cutting board such that the fat layers coincide and trim off some of the fat as shown in the photo. There is no where for the fat to go once it melts so this is an essential step. Discard the trimmings and then cut the meat into small pieces.
5. Pan fry the onion in a bit of oil over low heat till they soften and start to brown. Pour in 1/2 cup of white wine and reduce it to 1/4 of its original volume. After you turn off the heat, add the marscapone and stir well.
6. Add the contents of the pan to the big bowl. In addition, add 1T oregano,1t sugar, 1/2t turmeric and a generous sprinkle of black pepper. Finally add the bacon bits and 3/4 of the grated  parmigiano reggiano.
7. Mix the contents of the bowl well with a large spoon. Use a food processor to blend everything until you get a lumpy bacon paste. There is no need for it to be totally smooth. This is your sauce.
8. Preheat your oven to 160^oC (320^oF).
9. Apply a thin layer of the sauce to the bottom of a pyrex dish (that can hold eight cups of water). The add layers on top of it in the following sequence: pasta, mushroom, sauce, pasta, emmental, sauce, mushroom,  pasta, sauce. You don’t have that much sauce, ration it appropriately so you don’t run out before the end. Top off with the remaining grated parmigiano reggiano. 
10. Bake for about 30 minutes or until you see the parmigiano form a golden brown crust. The lasagna is best served with a sunny-side-up egg on top (not in the picture because I didn’t want to obscure the beautiful lasagna crust).

Notes

• The inspiration for thsi recipe comes from a ‘white’ lasagna I ate when my dad took me on a vacation to Europe. I was only 11 years old, but the taste of that dish from Venice lingers in my mind til today. I didn’t come across a similar dish for over three decades so I finally decided the only way I was going to taste something similar was to cook it myself.
• If you want to go the extra mile, use pancetta instead of regular bacon. You can also consider dressing the plate with some actual carbonara sauce (which is what I should have done for the photo but was too lazy).
• I prefer to work with ‘instant’ lasagna as it is less messy. When using this type of pre-cooked lasagna, one must remember to soak each piece of the pasta in hot water for about 10 seconds to get rid of their coating of fine flour. If you choose to use uncooked pasta, boil them till it they are semi-soft -between steps 8 and 9.

 

Porcini and Chicken Risotto

(serves 5)
Porcini mushrooms and risotto are a match made in culinary heaven. Sometimes referred to as the king of mushrooms, porcini are often dried to enhance their flavour and when rehydrated, give a rich nutty ‘soup’ which can be added as stock to the risotto. This particular recipe also introduces some chicken and proscuitto to bring out a meaty undertone, but in a manner which doesn’t compete with the flavour of the porcini.

Ingredients

1. Dried Porcini Mushrooms (30g)
2. Proscuitto, sliced (100g)
3. Arborio Rice (1.25 cups)
4. Chicken Leg and Thigh (1)
5. Shallots (4)
6. Butter (50g)
7. Grated Grana Padano (1/4 cup)
8. Chicken stock cube
9. Cognac

Preparation

1. Simmer your chicken leg in 3 cups of water and one chicken stock cube, for at least an hour. For best results, do this the night before.
2. After the stock has matured and cooled, remove the skin and shred the soft chicken meat by hand into small bundles of fibres. If you don’t boil the chicken for long enough, you won’t be able to do this.
3. You also need to soak your porcini in 1 cup of water for about an hour before you begin making the risotto.  Use cold water, as hot water will give the porcini a slight rubbery texture after it rehydrates.
4. Roll up your proscuitto slices and cut each roll lengthwise into two. Then cut bits of the half rolls to arrive at small rectangular slivers. On medium heat in a non-stick pan, fry the proscuitto to a crisp with 2T of olive oil. Sprinkle in 1/2 t of sugar and then remove the meat using a strainer for later use. Return the dripped oil to the pan.
5. Julienne the shallots into small pieces that are the size of rice grains and fry them in the retained oil plus an additional 2T of olive oil to form a sofritto. Its best you use the same pan without washing. Stir-fry under low heat until the shallots are limp, taking care not to caramelize them. 

Stop here if you are preparing ahead of time, for this marks the point of no return. Once you begin the next stage, you’ll need to serve the risotto soon after it is done.

1. Turn up the heat on the pan and add the rice into the soffritto, stirring well to coat the kernels with oil. Add the shredded chicken and continue to stir-fry for 5 minutes or so. Seperately, reheat your chicken stock to a boil.
2.  At this stage it is usual to add some sort of wine to the rice but in this case, we’ll be adding the procini and the flavoursome water used in their soaking instead. Reduce the heat to produce a low simmer.  Stir until the risotto begins to dry, then proceed to ladle in the hot chicken stock. Add just a ladle of stock each time, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. Continue doing this for about 20 minutes and when the stock runs out, just use plain water instead.
3. When your risotto becomes creamy and al dente and you can let it almost dry up, after which you turn off the heat.  Total simmering time varies a bit with the type of grain you are using, so rely on taste and appearance to decide if the risotto is done and not a timer.
4. Cut a ¼ slab of butter into 1 cm cubes and mix it with finely grated grana padano, a milder hard cheese which doesn’t crowd out the porcini flavour. This forms the mantecatura, which is stirred in towards the end when risotto is made.  In addition, sprinkle on some black pepper and 2T of brandy. After tasting, you may add a bit of salt or more cheese as a final adjustment if you deem necessary.
5. Cover the pot and let the risotto rest for 5 minutes so that it can absorb a bit more liquid and fluff up. Garnish with the crispy procuitto as the final touch.

Notes

• My first risotto recipe contains many of the finer points on making risotto, which I have opted not to repeat here. You should refer to that post if you don’ make risotto often.  
• 30g sounds like a really small amount to use, but as the mushrooms are dessicated, this works out to be almost a cup in volume.
• I know I’ve said don’t use stock cubes for risotto, but this is a special case. The salt content is taken into account in the recipe.

 

Mushroom Soup, with Truffle Oil

(serves 8 )
Had that bowl of mushroom soup at some fancy reastaurant that looks or tastes nothing like canned mushroom soup? This is that soup. Using a generous amount of mushrooms blended in chicken stock brings your mushroom soup to a whole new level, but this recipe goes a bit further. It also uses a little white sauce as a base, to give the soup a nice solid creamy structure. 

I just love the intense aroma and taste of truffles. You don’t have to use truffle oil if you don’t want to, but really…if there is one thing that goes perfectly with truffle essence, it’s mushroom soup.  Truffle oil is not cheap, but a small bottle of it goes a long way. You won’t regret your investment.

Ingredients

1. Chopped Mushooms (6 cups)
2. Red Onion (1)
3. Flour (3T)
4. Milk (1.5 cups)
5. Butter (80g)
6. Tarragon
7. Coriander Seed Powder
8. Cognac
9. Truffle Oil (optional)

Preparation

1. Start by cutting your mushrooms (btw, 6 cups is roughly 500g)  into small bits (slices if you plan using them decoratively). What kind of mushrooms should you use? The key to a good mushroom soup does not lie too much in the kind of mushrooms you use, although I do advocate a mix of at least one dark and one white variety to impart a nice grainy colour to your final product. At the same time, julienne a red onion into small bits.
2. In a soup pot, fry the onion in 2T of butter for about 8 minutes. While the onion is softening, break up a chicken stock cube in 3 cups of hot water and add it to the pot together with 1t sugar, 1t coriander seed powder and 1t tarragon.
3. Boil the chopped mushrooms in the stock for 10 minutes and then lightly blend the mixture. I normally just use a hand held blender on the pot’s contents directly, but you could do the whole batch in a food processor if you like. Your objective is to end up with a grainy mushroom texture, not a puree, so go easy on the blending.
4. In a sauce pan, melt 4T of butter and then fry 3T of flour in it until the flour begins to darken slightly. Stirring the entire time, add 1.5 cups of milk. To avoid lumping, you should pour in only ¼ cup of milk  at a time and hold off on adding the next batch of milk until the roux or sauce has absorbed all the liquid. You should have a nice thick sauce when you are done.
5. Next, turn up the heat and stir in some of the blended mushroom mixture, again slowly. When the contents of the saucepan has become more fluid,  pour it back into the soup pot and reheat.
6. Finally season your soup with 1T cognac, and black pepper and salt to taste. If you are planning to use truffle oil,  drizzle 1t of it on the individual soup dishes themselves just before serving.

Notes

• The use of a white sauce base lets the soup absorb a small amount of oil like the truffle oil, but if you intend to add mascarpone, cream etc. as a finish, the soup’s surface will be covered with little spots of oil. I recommend against doing this.
• For a nice visual effect you can try a number of things. Put aside some cooked mushroom slices before blending, and/or also some of the blended mushroom. You can add these back as decorative constructs after spooning the soup onto the dish (refer to the picture).
• Since we are making a soup, shouldn’t we be using real chicken for the stock? By all means. Ironically, I often use a vegetable stock cube to flavour my ‘real’ chicken stock. 
• High heat in oil is the only way of avoiding a floury taste, so never add flour directly to your soups.
• You can’t add more than a drizzle of truffle oil. If you want a full blown truffle taste without using fresh truffle shavings, you can add as much truffle pate as you like, which is made from mushrooms anyway.