So far, this July has been VERY lucrative in the Chanterelle Forage sense (as you will see in posts upcoming). For this particular meal, we decided to go with a pasta dish. The sauce idea came from our desire to rid ourselves of a mistake from years ago…after a hike in the pre-Covid times, my wife and I went wine tasting at a local winery and really enjoyed the dry whites they had to offer. The prices of the year’s wine we tried weren’t terribly attractive though, and the server mentioned that they had a deal on cases of the prior year’s wines…$36 for a case. We decided to roll the dice and buy a case figuring the wine would also be good. Well, as the saying goes, “Sometimes you win, sometimes you end up with a buttload of terrible wine.” I tell you that to share the fact that in the intervening years, we have been slowly but surely cooking with all that wine, and this meal represented the completion of that journey. We are now gloriously devoid of that wine!
Now that I’ve thoroughly trashed the wine, I must admit that it actually worked well in this since it had some pear notes to it, which complemented the fruity/nutty notes of the Chanterelles. Once we had all of our pasta ingredients and sauce together in the pan, we got a little fancy!
We broke out our new toy, a Girolle, to thinly slice some Tête de Moine into a chanterelle shape to adorn our pasta with that cheese. I had wanted one since our first trip to Switzerland, and there was one magically on sale at a cheese shop near where my father-in-law was playing with his band…so it was clearly meant to be.
Time: 30 Minutes
Ingredients:
- Chanterelles
- Broccoli
- Penne (we used whole wheat)
- 3 Tbsps Butter
- 2 Tbsps Flour
- 1 Cup Dry White Wine
- 1 Cup Vegetable Stock
- Black Pepper
- Optional: Tête de Moine cheese
Method:
- Bring a pot of water with a little oil and salt to a boil. When it boils, add your pasta, and cook until al dente. Then, drain, and set the pasta aside.
- As your pasta cooks, cut your broccoli into florets, and steam it so it is tender, but not soft (about 3 minutes in the microwave).
- Wash your chanterelles, and slice them in half. Melt a tablespoon of butter in a large pan, and add your chanterelles. Cook for about 3 minutes.
- Add your steamed broccoli to your pan, and stir to combine. Keep cooking.
- Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan, and when it’s melted, whisk in your flour to combine and form the base of your roux. Let sit for a minute or two. Then, pour in your wine and veggie stock while whisking. Bring to a simmer to allow to thicken.
- Pour your cooked pasta into your chanterelle and broccoli pan, and stir to combine. Then, pour your sauce in as well, and stir to coat and to continue to thicken.
- Optional: As your pasta finishes, curl your cheese.
- Plate, sprinkle on some black pepper, devour, and enjoy!
