Mushroom Ragu Pasta

5 from 4 votes

Recipe video above. This is a rich, deeply savoury Mushroom Ragu pasta built on dried porcini, red wine and a good splash of umami from anchovy and parmesan. It is comforting and luscious like a beef ragu which takes hours to slow cook, whereas this Mushroom Ragu takes just 30 minutes to make on the stove.

To really make the sauce as savoury as possible, I used anchovies and chicken stock. If you want to make this vegetable, leave out the anchovies and add extra parmesan instead, and use vegetable stock.

Makes 4 very generous servings, or 5 regular servings.

Prep Time30

Cook Time25

Course: Mains, Pasta

Cuisine: Italian, Western

Keyword: Mushroom Ragu

Servings: - 5 people

Calories: 623cal

Author: Chef JB (RecipeTin)

Ingredients

For the ragu

20g / 0.7oz dried porcini mushrooms , about 3/4 cup (Note 1)
1 cup red wine , I use pinto noir (Note 2)
1kg / 2lbs white button mushrooms or Swiss Brown / cremini (750g / 26oz sliced 4mm / 0.2" thick, 250g / 8oz diced 6mm / 1/4") (Note 3)
2 tbsp olive oil
60g / 2oz unsalted butter , divided
1 brown or yellow onion , finely diced
3 garlic cloves , finely minced
3 tsp finely minced anchovy fillets , or anchovy paste (Note 4)
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 1/2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt (half for table salt, 50% extra for flakes)
1 tsp dried thyme or 2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 fresh bay leaves , dried ok
3 tbsp plain flour (all-purpose)
1 cup chicken stock , salt reduced - or vegetable stock for vegetarian (Note 5)
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup parmesan cheese , finely grated

For the pasta

400g / 14oz malfadine pasta (curly fettuccini , pictured) , pappardelle or short pastas like orecchiette, fusilli, rigatoni - sauce clings well to these (Note 6)
1 tbsp cooking salt / kosher salt , for the pasta water
Extra parmesan , for serving

Cups - Metric

Instructions

Abbreviated Recipe

Soak porcini in wine 30 min, strain and chop, reserve wine. Sauté onion, garlic and anchovy in oil and butter. Cook tomato paste, then cook mushrooms, porcini, salt, thyme and bay leaves 8 min. Add wine, reduce 6 min. Stir in flour, then chicken stock, simmer to thicken. Finish with pepper, parmesan and remaining butter.

Full Recipe

MUSHROOM RAGU:

Soak the dried porcini in red wine for 30 minutes to rehydrate. Strain, then squeeze the excess wine out of the mushrooms. Reserve the wine.
Chop the porcini finely (about 3mm/1/8").
Sauté - Heat the olive oil and melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large heavy-based pot over medium-high heat (~26cm/10.5"+). Add the onion, garlic and anchovy. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring regularly with a wooden spoon, until the onion softens.
Caramelise tomato paste - Add the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes, stirring regularly.
Cook mushrooms - Add the sliced mushrooms first and cook for 2 minutes, so they reduce in volume a bit. Add the chopped mushrooms, porcini, salt, thyme and bay leaves. Stir and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring from time to time, until the liquid released by the mushrooms is mostly gone.
Reduce wine - Pour in the reserved red wine and simmer for 6 minutes, stirring well at first to scrape up the fond at the bottom of the pot, then regularly towards the end. A path drawn with the spoon along the base should briefly hold.
Thicken sauce - Add the flour, stir well and cook for 30 seconds. Add the chicken stock, bring to a simmer and cook for 2 minutes, stirring regularly, until it thickens to a rich, gravy-like consistency.
Finish with the pepper, parmesan and remaining butter, stirring until everything is combined and the butter has melted through for a beautifully glossy finish. Put the lid on to keep warm while you cook the pasta.

TOSS WITH PASTA:

Cook pasta - Bring a large pot of water to the boil over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of salt and add the pasta. Cook per the packet direction minus 1 minute.
Reserve pasta water - Just before draining the pasta, scoop out one cup of pasta cooking water and set aside. Drain the pasta.
Toss - Add the cooked pasta and 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water (the starch in the water helps the sauce stick to the pasta). Toss well on medium heat for 1 minute or until the pasta is all coated with the ragu and serve with a sprinkle of parmesan. Bon appétit!

Notes

1. Porcini -Porcini mushrooms are prized wild mushrooms with a rich and intensely earthy flavour. They’re commonly sold dried, which concentrates their flavour even further. Even a small amount adds remarkable depth to the whole sauce.

They come chopped but usually sliced. 20g is of sliced dried porcini is 3/4 cup, chopped will be around 1/2 cup.

2. Red wine - I like a Pinot Noir here, it's light and fruity without too much tannin, which softens beautifully as it reduces into the sauce. No need for anything fancy though, a cheap bottle works just as well since the flavor concentrates and changes as it cooks down, so save the good stuff for drinking alongside dinner.

3. Cutting the mushrooms - Slicing most of the cup mushrooms and roughly chopping the rest gives you a nice mix of textures throughout the ragu, some smaller, softer bits, some bigger, heartier bites.

4. Anchovy - Don't worry, they won't make the sauce taste fishy. They dissolve into the base and simply round out the savoriness underneath everything else.

If you prefer not to use anchovy, just leave it out and add an extra 1/4 cup of parmesan.

5. Chicken stock - The best choice here, it adds savouriness without masking the flavour of the mushrooms. Homemade stock will take it to another level, but skip powdered stock, it won't do the dish justice. Vegetable stock also works if you'd prefer, the ragu won't have quite the same richness you can only get from meat-based stocks but it is still very delicious (I have made this with vegetable stock).

6. Australians reading this - Heads up, avoid the San Remo curly fettuccini, it falls apart.

Leftovers and storage - Keeps well in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat gently on the stove with a splash of stock or water to loosen if needed. I don't recommend freezing, the mushrooms will lose texture.

Nutrition per serving, assuming 5 servings.

Nutrition