Tagliatelle with chanterelles

“Life is a combination of magic and pasta” Federico Fellini

I love good pasta once in a while. If I had a better metabolism, I swear I would be loving it so much more often. Yet once I indulge in it, I like it with all the essentials – a bit of butter, cheese, creamy sauce. Everything in moderation.

There was a time, when living on a tight budget I was shopping for pasta within a certain price range. With time and more wisdom (hopefully) I became more picky. If I decide to have a pasta meal, I always hunt for something fresh, handmade, better quality. In general my philosophy is that food deserves more attention in our lives. A human body is to be treated as an expensive vehicle. Beware of what you put in, if you want better “mileage” on it. Our bodies run on food as much as on good emotions. Our health is absolutely dependant on what we eat and how we treat ourselves. Instead of counting calories I rather look at the ingredients. If some of them sound alien to me, I don’t choose them. I honestly believe that most of diseases in our current world are caused by too many chemicals digested, injected or otherwise absorbed.

I can’t think of a better pairing with pasta than mushrooms. My top favourite choice ever is pasta, a bit of butter and a fresh truffle. That is on the occasions I can afford to indulge in that. Being a regular human, who doesn’t own a forest of oak trees somewhere in South of France, I am perfectly fine (more than fine) with fresh picked chanterelles, porcini or other locally available forest delicacies. It’s even impossible to describe how much I love picking and eating forest mushrooms. For as long as I can remember! Some of my favourite combinations – pasta and chanterelles. This time I went with tagliatelle and creamy chanterelle sauce (no cream included).

Ingredients:

1 pack (250g) tagliatelle pasta
500 g chanterelles
1 garlic
2-3 tablespoons parmigiano
2-3 tablespoons butter
fresh vegetable stock
olive oil
salt’n’pepper

Vegetable stock:

2 carrots
1 onion
3-4 bay leaves
2-3 whole black peppers

Boil a few litres of water. Add halved onion, diced carrots, bay leaves and pepper and boil for 10-15 minutes. The stock is perfect for soups, sauces and any other recipes that require vegetable stock. For meat stock options add a few pieces of chicken or other types of meat.

While the stock is boiling, chop some garlic and fry in a bit of olive oil until soft. Add chanterelles and fry for 10-15 minutes (if using fresh ones) till liquid evaporates. In the meantime heat up another pot of water with a pinch of salt for pasta. Boil two minutes less than indicated on the package.

Scoop out pasta over mushrooms, add a few tablespoons of butter, a few cups of home made vegetable stock. Cook for a few minutes and pour a cup of water the pasta boiled in. It will help to incorporate all of the ingredients together better. Sprinkle with grated parmigiano mix everything well and serve.