Fregola Sarda With Mushrooms
by
Derek Farwagi
Ingredients
As a main course
- ½ lb Fregola Sarda
- 3 cups Bite size chopped Cremini, Baby Bella or fresh Porcini mushrooms or a mix of all three.
- 1 Medium sized shallot
- 2 Garlic cloves, finely chopped
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp Marjoram (Thyme or Oregano works too.)
- 2 tbsp unsalted cold butter
Instructions
For the Fregola
- The trick is to have enough water for the Fregola to boil freely to avoid sticking, so salt and bring 2-3 quarts of water to a gentle boil.
- Keeping a gentle boil, cook Fregola as you would pasta for about 13-15 minutes and taste for firmness. You want it to be al dente.
- Scoop a cup of water and set aside to water down the mushroom sauce.
- Strain and keep Fregola warm in the pan off the fire.
For the mushroom sauce
- Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Washing them under water can make them turn slimey.
- Heat a large skillet or frying pan on a low flame.
- Cut the mushrooms to small bite size pieces without or without the stems.( If you do decide on using the stems, cut off the bottom third. It is usually drier and more fibrous than the rest of the stem).
- Finely chop the shallot.
- Add olive oil, shallots and mushrooms to the pan and increase to medium heat and cook for 5-7 minutes stirring occasionally until the mushrooms are still crunchy but not raw.
- Add the chopped garlic and sauté for a minute.
- Add the balsamic vinegar, mix well and simmer the vinegar liquid until it is nearly gone. The idea here is cook off the tangyness of the vinegar until it is sweet.
- Stir in the half cup of the water from the boiling pasta, add half the marjoram and give a little stir.
- On a very low fire finish off the mushrooms by quickly blending in cold butter one tablespoon at a time. You do this by using the tip of fork to gentle stir the butter through the mushrooms. You are not cooking but gently emulsifying the butter with the liquid.
- Salt to taste.
- Add the cooked Fregola, increase heat to medium and cook for a couple of minutes to allow the pasta to absorb the liquid and butter. If too dry add a little more pasta water.
- Garnish with rest of herbs and serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Nutrition
Calories: 473kcalCarbohydrates: 95gProtein: 18gFat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 21mgPotassium: 772mgFiber: 4gSugar: 10gCalcium: 52mgIron: 2mg
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