
Pasta Pie with Mushrooms and Taleggio
The full title of this recipe is Pappardelle Pie with Wild Mushrooms and Taleggio. Sounds delicious, right? And I absolutely have this thing about baked pasta dishes. I don’t know why they’re so good.
The recipe is from Delia’s Christmas, although this particular dish doesn’t really scream “holidays” to me! Nonetheless, it would be a great dish to make in advance for company at any time. It’s easy, comforting, and delicious.
My only problem with this dish is that I cannot buy “fancy” mushrooms where I live. It requires a visit to Whole Foods, which is always fun, but it’s about 80 miles away. Then hallelujah, I found mushrooms on a fabulous website called Pacific Wild Pick. They sell more than just mushrooms, as well.
I purchased 2 pounds of chestnut mushrooms, because no dark-gilled mushrooms were available at the time. Perhaps it was not their season.
Pappardelle Pie with Wild Mushrooms and Taleggio
Printable recipe below
10 ounces pappardelle (I used Casareccia)
1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms (I used 1 ounce)
5 ounces Marsala wine
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 medium onion
14 ounces large chestnut mushrooms
9 ounces large, dark-gilled mushrooms
6 cloves garlic
19 ounces milk
3 1/2 tablespoons butter
Scant 3 tablespoons flour
Grated nutmeg, to taste
2 tablespoons double cream
6 ounces Taleggio, cut in cubes
2 ounces grated Parmesan
Begin by placing the porcini (broken into pieces) in a small saucepan, add the Marsala, bring up to simmering point, then take it off the heat and put on a timer for the porcini to soak for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, peel and chop the onion and the same with the garlic. Then heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a wide shallow pan, add the onions and let them cook over a lowish heat for about 10 minutes. While that’s happening, chop the chestnut mushrooms (through the stalk) into quarters and the larger mushrooms into six. After that add the garlic to the onion and cook, stirring it around, for a minute or two before adding the prepared fresh mushrooms.Stir and toss them around until they start to shrink, add some seasoning and let them cook very gently. I used salt and some white pepper.
Then, when the 30 minutes’ soaking tine is up, add the porcini and Marsala and do some more tossing and stirring. Continue to cook with the heat at medium for about 30-40 minutes, or until all the juices have evaporated. Put a large pan of water on to boil and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Meanwhile, make an all-in-one béchamel sauce by placing the milk, butter and flour in a saucepan, then whisking over a medium heat until you have a smooth, thick sauce. Then turn the heat to its lowest and cook for 5 minutes, adding some seasoning and the nutmeg. At the end whisk in 2 tablespoons of the double cream.
When the mushrooms are ready, cook the pasta in the boiling water for 8 minutes, then drain it in a colander.
Return it to the saucepan, add two-thirds of the sauce, along with the mushrooms and cubes of Taleggio. Now pile the whole lot into the baking dish, cover the pasta with the rest of the sauce and finally sprinkle with the Parmesan and drizzle with a little olive oil.
Bake in a preheated oven for 20 minutes until golden brown. When it is removed from the oven, allow it to settle for 10 minutes before serving, like with all baked pastas.
Serve warm. Wish I’d had some parsley to sprinkle on top.
There is nothing wrong with this dish. It’s delicious, and I loved discovering chestnut mushrooms! However, I do wish that it had more cheese and bechamel. There, I said it. I mean, it’s the holidays, right?!
Pappardelle Pie with Wild Mushrooms and Taleggio
10.5 ounces pappardelle
1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
5 ounces Marsala wine
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 medium onion
14 ounces large chestnut mushrooms
9 ounces large, dark-gilled mushrooms
6 cloves garlic
19 ounces milk
1.7 ounces butter
1.4 ounces flour
1/2 whole nutmeg, freshly grated
2 tablespoons double cream
6 ounces Taleggio, cut in cubes
2 ounces grated Parmesan
Salt and pepper
White pepper, my addition
Begin by placing the porcini (broken into pieces) in a small saucepan, add the Marsala, bring up to simmering point, then take it off the heat and put on a timer for the porcini to soak for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, peel and chop the onion and the same with the garlic. Then heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a wide shallow pan, add the onions and let them cook over a lowish heat for about 10 minutes. While that’s happening, chop the chestnut mushrooms (through the stalk) into quarters and the larger mushrooms into six. After that add the garlic to the onion and cook, stirring it around, for a minute or two before adding the prepared fresh mushrooms.
Stir and toss them around until they start to shrink, add some seasoning and let them cook very gently. Then, when the 30 minutes’ soaking tine is up, add the porcini and Marsala and do some more tossing and stirring. Continue to cook with the heat at medium for about 30-40 minutes, or until all the juices have evaporated. Put a large pan of water on to boil and preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.
Meanwhile, make an all-in-one béchamel sauce by placing the milk, butter and flour in a saucepan, then whisking over a medium heat until you have a smooth, thick sauce. Then turn the heat to its lowest and cook for 5 minutes, adding some seasoning and the nutmeg. At the end whisk in 2 tablespoons of the double cream.
When the mushrooms are ready, cook the pasta in the boiling water for 8 minutes, then drain it in a colander. Return it to the saucepan, add two-thirds of the sauce, along with the mushrooms and cubes of Taleggio. Now pile the whole lot into the baking dish, cover the pasta with the rest of the sauce and finally sprinkle with the Parmesan and drizzle with a little olive oil.
Bake in a preheated oven for 20 minutes until golden brown. When it is removed from the oven, allow it to settle for 10 minutes before serving, like with all baked pastas.
This sounds sooooooo good
Thank you Beth! It was.
This looks totally delicious and satisfying Mimi! And I’m heading right over to that site!!!!
80 miles away! I can imagine the disappointment if I made the trip and they were out of what I needed, which would probably be the case.
Looks delicious – a “must make” for sure!
Thanks, John. Super delicious.
I love baked pasta recipes too, Mimi! This looks delicious and thank you for the step by step photos! I’ve heard of that Pacific Wild Pick company, they have a great catalog. The brand of pasta that you’ve shown in your photos is the brand that my cousin in Italy recommended to me when we visited her favorite outdoor market. This recipe reminds me of when I visit Italy in October and porcini mushrooms are in season. YUM!
Oh how wonderful! That’s a wonderful time to be in Italy!!! Good to know that you approve of the pasta brand. I get it from Amazon!
Lovely dish and Taleggio is one of my favourite cheeses!
Mine as well. It’s typically on my cheese platters that I serve to guests!
Mushrooms and pasta are two of my favorite foods, so this sounds fabulous to me! I like that you used shorter pasta instead of Pappardelle. I agree that more bechamel and cheese would likely make it even better. I’m looking forward to making this soon. Barb
I know exactly what you mean. And I’d add cheese to that list! Definitely make it saucier and cheesier.
Well, you had me at mushrooms and pasta! I’m sure that I’d prefer your casarecce pasta to the original pappardelle, Mimi. Definitely more toothsome and satisfying than pappardelle in a baked dish. I’m glad you found a good resource for mushrooms.
I know! The recipe had me at that as well. It was really good.
That looks delicious and comforting.
Thank you! It was both.
Oh, my gosh, this sounds so good! I love pasta, I love mushrooms, and I love cheese sauce….so what is not to like about his recipe? I bet I could manage it, too.
And that’s exactly why I made it! Yes, there’s nothing difficult with this recipe.
I love Taleggio cheese, it has so much flavor. However, it and double cream are not very easy to find where I live. The dish sounds great for the holidays.
I have to order just about everything “gourmet” and exotic online. Murray’s Cheese, Fromages.com, Dibruno, etc. And Amazon, of course!
Baked pasta dishes are my favourite comfort meals. And we get amazing mushrooms grown locally, all exotic and unusual. The things you can buy online always amazes me :)
I know! And thank god, cause I can barely get anything fun locally!
I love mushrooms and I love Delia! Not so much the pasta tho … I am one of these weird folk who don’t eat or like it. I always laugh when you hear a chef on tv saying everyone loves it!
Well it’s probably quite rare for a person to not enjoy pasta, mostly because there are endless ways to make and enjoy it?!
Your recipe just oozes flavour Mimi, and I have trouble buying fancy mushrooms too however I will try a couple of substitutions. I know what you mean about baked pasta dishes, so delicious. Lovely post, thankyou.
Thank you so much!!!
I also love pasta dishes.
Nice! How old is this blog, there are a ton of recipes! Thank you for sharing them!
I’ve been around for 12 years, although I’ve deleted a lot of early posts! The photos were awful!
The easy mushroom recipe just screams cozy fall vibes. So rich and delicious- it would have your guests swooning.
It would be a great pasta dish for company.
What could possibly be better than these ingredients together? I love knowing about Pacific Wild Pick — we can get some wild mushrooms here — even wild foraged — but not all the time. This is a great resource. Love the recipe (even though I am not a huge baked pasta fan) and look forward to trying it.
Oh interesting. I love pasta in pretty much all forms, but baked dishes are wonderful to me. Maybe more comforting?
Mimi, this sounds fantastic! SO cozy and comforting with the delicious earthy mushrooms. I love seeing white pepper in recipes, as I think it’s quite underused. :-) ~Valentina
Not fancy and definitely not photogenic! But very much in the comfort food category.
I totally agree with you, there’s just something magical about baked pasta that makes it so comforting and satisfying.
I really love it, even though I also love unbaked pasta!