I’m back. After 18 months. Because tonight, my dinner included an entire container of Mascarpone cheese. You can’t make dinner with an entire container of Mascarpone cheese and NOT blog about it. So, here goes. Homemade fettuccine with a creamy mushroom sauce.
Making pasta can be fun and annoying. Tonight, it was both. I mucked up my first attempt by using the wrong blade in the food processor. But, the 2nd attempt was successful. The pasta dough is really easy. 3 1/2 cups of flour and 4 eggs. Combine them in a food processor until the dough starts to form a ball. Remove the dough and place it on a work surface dusted with flour. Knead for 10 minutes and let rest for 20. (If the dough isn’t coming together, add some water one tablespoon at a time until you get a solid consistency).
As the dough was resting, I got started on the mushroom sauce. As you can see in the photos, I was suddenly overcome with tears at the thought of how amazing this dinner was going to be. Not really. I was chopping shallots. So - chop 2 shallots and slice 2 containers of mushrooms.
The shallots went into a pan with some olive oil and a clove of garlic. (Note - new favorite kitchen trick: grate garlic over a microplane to save yourself the hassle of chopping it.) The shallots and garlic cooked for about 5 minutes - then add the sliced mushrooms. Cook for 5 more minutes and add 1/2 cup of chicken stock. Cook until liquid reduces and add 8 ounces of Mascarpone cheese and 1/2 cup of fresh Parmesan cheese. Combine all over low heat until a creamy consistency is reached.
Back to the pasta. We have a manual pasta machine that is wonderful. The long and short of it is really simple - it rolls the dough out into long sheets, and then you run it through another attachment that cuts the dough into fettuccine. The pasta went directly into a pot of boiling salted water for about 5 minutes. Fresh pasta cooks REALLY fast.
Drain the pasta, combine in a large serving bowl with the mushroom sauce and pray to god that your lactose intolerance won’t flare up as you devour the creamy cheesy delicacy that you’ve just created.
Super good. Pretty easy. And, we’ve got leftover noodles drying for our next pasta adventure.
There it is. My triumphant return. Alert the presses. Maybe I’ll check back in this week. We’ve got turkey burgers and sweet potatoes on the menu. But I’ve got to get back to The Celebrity Apprentice. Dionne Warwick is a total bia and I LOVE it.
