It is the season for chanterelles again and we feel we have to include this short recipe outside of our weekly rhythm. In addition, a reader pointed out a similar preparation to us last year and we want to share it here too.
You can find the most important information about chanterelles, how to clean them and how to prepare them here.
We’re all about the mushrooms and that’s why we use a lot of them and less pasta. Our quantities at the end of the recipe therefore include more mushrooms than suggested elsewhere. We clean the chanterelles and pre-cook the pasta until they are almost, but not quite, cooked (2 minutes less than stated on the packet). Shallots or spring onions and garlic are finely chopped. Herbs are also a must; we opt for curly parsley, which has a slightly more intense flavour than flat-leaf parsley (we’ll come to an alternative later).
Place a dry frying pan over a medium-high heat. As soon as it is hot, add the chanterelles and fry them, shaking the pan only occasionally to turn the tender mushrooms. They release an amazing amount of liquid very quickly, which is how they need to be for full flavour and optimum consistency. At this point, we also season them for the first time with a little salt and ground black pepper.
We allow this liquid to evaporate almost completely. Its flavour remains in the pan. Then add a little butter and sauté the onions and garlic until translucent.
For more flavour, deglaze with a little white wine and allow this to reduce almost completely as well. If you don’t want this, leave the wine out. Then pour in cream, add the chopped herbs and reduce this to about half the volume so that the cream thickens and forms a sauce that can stick to the pasta.
Toss the pasta in the sauce and heat through, then season with salt and pepper to taste – done.
And now for an alternative: reader Martha from the north of Europe told us that she often uses sour cream instead of sweet cream and tarragon (our favourite culinary herb). This is an absolutely delicious combination that we would definitely recommend. You can also replace some of the sweet cream with sour cream. However, tarragon should always be used sparingly, as it is extremely intense. So it’s better to add a little first, season to taste and then add more if necessary.
Enjoy.
And may the taste be with you.
Ingredients (for 2 people):
180 g pasta secca (made from durum wheat semolina), for example fusilli or casarecce
300 – 400 g fresh chanterelles
2 tbsp butter
Salt and pepper
1 – 2 cloves of garlic
2 shallots or 4 – 6 spring onions
100 ml dry white wine
Either:
200 ml sweet cream
1 handful of parsley (we prefer curly parsley here)
Or:
200 ml sour cream
Fresh tarragon instead of parsley (to taste, it is very intense)
