Wild Mushroom Lasagna with Black Trumpet Bescamel

December 14, 2021 by Philip Buccellato in pasta, mushrooms, wild food

A wild summer mushroom lasagna with a black trumpet bechamel. The foundation of the recipe was heavily inspired by Evan Funke ‘s American Sfoglino which is a great book for anyone obsessed with pasta. This was decadent yet subtle - nothing beats a big fat corner of lasagna with crispy edges. Full recipe below along with a detailed video of the process.

The Pasta

Ingredients

454 g 00 Flour

258 g eggs (beaten before mixing)

*makes roughly 5 layers of 9 x 13 inch pasta. Four of those layers can be cut exactly to the size of your pan, and with the scraps you can assemble the 5th layer.

Directions

Mix the flours and dump out the weighed amount onto a clean work surface.
Use your hand to form a well (like a volcano) in the center of the flour.
Carefully pour your eggs into the center and begin slowly mixing together with a fork. Gradually, carefully, work your way all around to incorporate the eggs with the flour, without breaking the outer wall. A bench scraper is a handy tool to have at this point if you have one.
After about 5 - 10 minutes it will start coming together into a shaggy mass. Begin using your hands to knead the dough together. Work diligently for another 5 minutes until it is no longer shaggy.
Use the edges of your hands, knuckles, to work the dough until it starts to form a smooth ball. Knead it, applying pressure, into the work surface. Fold it. Knead it again. After about ten minutes it should be smooth and ready to rest.
Cut the dough into two and wrap each in plastic wrap. Set into the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
The following steps revolve around using a mattarello (Italian rolling pin) - but you could also do this with a pasta machine. Remove one of the dough balls, unwrap, cut it in half (resulting in 1/4 the amount of the original dough ball. Wrap the other half while you roll your first sheet. Place the cut piece of pasta dough in the center of your work surface. Apply a light dusting of flour to both the surface and the top of the dough.
Slowly apply downwards pressure with the rolling pin, starting from the center of the ball and moving outwards. Repeat, methodically, always working from the center outwards - creating the general shape of the pan you’ll be baking the lasagna in. The sfoglia (pasta dough) will gradually begin to flatten and create a large round sheet on your work surface. If you’re finding the dough sticky, use a tiny bit more flour. Periodically flip the dough over and work from the other side. This process requires a little elbow grease and about 10-15 minutes of your time. You’ll know you’re done when the dough stops pulling inwards on itself and the thickness is about 2-3 mm. It should be light and delicate but be able to retain it’s shape. Cut the sfoglia into 9 x 13 inch pieces, saving the scraps to assemble another layer of the lasagna. Allow the dough to air dry while you gather all the other ingredients - ready to assemble the layers into your baking tray.
Blanch each sheet of pasta in boiling salted water for about 30 - 45 seconds each.
Remove with a slotted spoon, drain excess water, and layer right into the baking pan.

The Mushrooms

Ingredients

2 lbs of fresh chanterelles

3 shallots (finely chopped)

4 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)

Fresh thyme

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Directions

Clean the mushrooms of any debris and slice into thin pieces. Set aside.
Bring a skillet up to medium heat and saute the finely diced shallots in olive oil until translucent.
Add the finely diced garlic and thyme and saute for another few minutes.
Add the chanterelles and cook them down for about ten minutes until they significantly reduce in size and begin to brown.
Season with salt and pepper and set aside to cool down.

The Black Trumpet Bescamel

Ingredients

15 g dried black trumpets (blitz into a fine powder)

8 tbsp butter

1 cup 00 flour

5 cups or 236 grams of whole milk

A pinch of grated nutmeg

Salt

Directions

Bring a heavy duty skillet up to medium heat.
Melt the butter in the pan.
Slowly add the flour into the butter and whisk constantly. The trick with bescamel is patience, being slow and steady to incorporate the ingredients gradually to avoid it being lumpy.
Continue adding all the flour to the butter and the mixture will start to become crumbly and fragrant as it browns/toasts in the pan. Keep whisking the mixture for about 5 minutes before adding the milk in little by little - constantly whisking to incorporate. The milk will begin to loosen the crumbly mixture and after a few minutes of stirring it will appear silky. Add a little more milk if it feels too thick.
Season with salt, and a pinch of grated nutmeg, and add the black trumpet powder.
Continue to stir on low heat for another few minutes.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool down before using it in the lasagna.

The Lasagna

Ingredients

The pasta sheets

The sauteed mushroom mixture

The black trumpet bescamel

Grated pecorino romano or parmesan

Fresh basil for garnish

Directions

On the bottom of your baking pan, spoon in a layer of bescamel and coat the pan evenly.
Add your first sheet of blanched pasta dough.
Add an even layer of the cooked mushrooms, spread evenly across the surface.
Spoon on another layer of bescamel, followed by a generous sprinkling of grated cheese.
Lay in another sheet of pasta and repeat the process until you have no more left. This recipe will yield about 5 sheets that are 9 x 13 inches. The thicker you make your pasta, the less surface area you’ll get. Be sure to save all your scraps of pasta as you cut them down to size - to reassemble them to create another layer of pasta.
Bake (covered) for 30 minutes at 375F.
Remove the cover, and bake for another 30 minutes uncovered.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool down for at least ten minutes.
The steaming pasta will start to settle and firm up as it cools.
Cut into pieces and garnish with more freshly grated cheese and fresh basil.

Black Trumpet Ravioli with Sage Cream Sauce

July 28, 2021 by Philip Buccellato in mushrooms, pasta

Black trumpet ravioli filled with sautéed black trumpets & shallots, parsley, lemon zest, and fresh ricotta served with a creamy sage butter sauce and cracked black pepper. Simple and decadent, meant to showcase one of the most unique wild mushrooms available this time of year. The smell of fresh trumpets are hard to define; earthy, floral, almost intoxicating. I always enjoy thinking of new ways to cook with them. A short video of the process is below.

The Filling

Ingredients:

Fresh black trumpet mushrooms (about 2 cups)

Ricotta (2 cups drained of excess liquid)

2-3 Shallots (finely minced)

Zest of 1 lemon

Parsley (handful)

Olive oil

Directions:

Bring a skillet to medium heat and add a few tablespoons of olive oil.
Add the shallots and saute for about 5 minutes until softened and golden, constantly stirring.
Add the mushrooms and continue to cook down for another 5 minutes until well incorporated.
Season with a little salt and pepper.
Remove from the skillet and set aside to cool.
In a food processor, add the mushroom/shallot mix and parsley and pulse a few times for a a few seconds. The result should be a mix that is finely chopped (NOT completely blitzed into a puree).
Remove from the processor and mix together with the ricotta and lemon zest.
Season with salt to taste.
Cover and set aside (in refrigerator) until ready to fill the ravioli.

The Pasta

Ingredients

454 g 00 Flour

258 g eggs (beaten before mixing)

1 extra egg (beaten for sealing)

*Portioned for 5 - 6 people

Directions

Dump the weighed flour onto a clean work surface.
Use your hand to form a well (like a volcano) in the center of the flour.
Carefully pour your eggs into the center and begin slowly mixing together with a fork. Gradually, carefully, work your way all around to incorporate the eggs with the flour, without breaking the outer wall.
After about 5 - 10 minutes it will start coming together into a shaggy mass. Begin using your hands to knead the dough together. Work diligently for another 5 minutes until it is no longer shaggy.
Use the edges of your hands, knuckles, to work the dough until it starts to form a smooth ball. Roll it, applying pressure, into the work surface. Fold it. Roll it again. After about ten minutes it should be a smooth, and ready to rest.
Cut the dough into two and wrap each in plastic wrap. Set into the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
The following steps revolve around using a pasta attachment on a Kitchenaid - but you could also do this by hand with a rolling pin. Remove one of the dough balls, unwrap, and cut off a portion of the dough. Lightly flour and cover the rest back with plastic. Press gently and form a rectangle.
Pass the dough through the sheet pasta attachment at it’s widest setting. If it feels sticky, add a little more flour. Gradually tighten the settings of the pasta attachment, one click at a time, and pass the pasta sheet through until it is light and delicate. For ravioli, I normally go to the 6th setting.
Cut off any irregular ends and you should be left with a long sheet of sfoglia that is about 5-6 inches thick.
My method is best visualized in the video below - and this is only one way to do it. There are many other much more skilled pasta makers out there who likely would recommend doing it another way - but this was my approach. This method involves folding the sheet of dough over on to itself vs using two different sheets stacked on top of each other.
Using a spoon and your finger tips, carefully place a dollop of filling about the size of the tip of your pinky - in one corner of the sfoglia. Leave about a half to 3/4 inch of space on either side to the edge. Continue placing the dollops of filling along one entire side of the rectangle.
Brush on a light coating of egg wash around the filling and along the edge of the sfoglia.
Carefully fold over the exposed half of the sfoglia onto the other half, covering the filling. Use your fingers to gently press down around the mounds of filling, pushing out any air pockets to the other edge. Work intentionally to eliminate any remaining air pockets.
Using a scalloped pasta cutter - trim off the outer edges - but leaving the folded edge in tact.
Now cut between each individual ravioli with the cutter until you have none left.
Gently dust with semolina, and transfer to a pan with semolina sprinkled on the bottom to avoid sticking. Allow to air dry for about 10 minutes and transfer to the refrigerator until ready to cook.
Repeat the process until you have no more dough or no more filling left.

The Sauce & Final Dish

Ingredients:

1 Cup heavy cream

3 tbsp butter

1/2 cup grated pecorino Romano

1 tbsp very finely minced sage

Pasta water as necessary

Directions:

You should make the sauce right before you drop the ravioli into the boiling water. This step only takes a few minutes and you don’t want the sauce sitting around.
Melt the butter in a skillet on medium heat.
Add the finely minced sage and stir into the butter, cooking for a minute or two.
Add the heavy cream and continue to stir so nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan.
Add the grated pecorino Romano and continue to stir as the sauce begins to thicken.
Add pasta water to adjust the consistency of the sauce, a few tablespoons at a time. This will also help make the sauce more silky.
Add the ravioli to salted boiling water. The fresh pasta will only take about 3-4 minutes to cook. Continue simmering your sauce.
Remove the sauce from the heat and add the cooked/drained ravioli directly to the pan. Using a large spoon, stir together, completely coating all of the ravioli with sauce.
Plate each serving and finish with a sprinkle of more freshly grated pecorino and fresh cracked black pepper.

Black Trumpet Cappellacci dei briganti

February 14, 2021 by Philip Buccellato in mushrooms, pasta, wild food

Cappellacci dei Briganti, a pasta shape which imitates the hats worn by 19th century guerrilla fighters known as brigands. These self-declared soldiers formed rebel militias and roamed the hills of Southern Italy at the time of the Risorgimento or the unification of Italy. This style of pasta originated in Molise and is typically served with a lamb ragu. When brainstorming pasta dishes that feature foraged wild mushrooms I couldn't help make the connection between the shape of the pasta with black trumpets. I've been wanting to make these since last summer and finally got myself sorted out to make it happen. The pasta dough incorporates a small percentage of dried black trumpet powder to give them their distinct color. The final flavor of the mushrooms is rather subtle as it competes with the hearty lamb ragu but it adds a nice earthy subtext to the dish. It was perfect for a cold winter night with a good glass of red wine in hand and the kids shipped off to Nonna's house. Video of the process below. It’s a lot easier than it looks.

Black Trumpet Cappellacci dei briganti

Ingredients

430 g 00 Flour

20 g dehydrated wild mushroom powder

250 g eggs (beaten before mixing)

*Portioned for 5 - 6 people

Tools:

Circular cookie cutter, conical metal pastry tip (see photos/video for sizing)

Directions

Using a spice grinder (or similar) blitz your dried mushrooms into a very fine powder. Here I’m using black trumpets but you could easily substitute with any other edible wild mushroom.
Mix together the mushroom powder and flour into a bowl, and dump out onto your clean work surface.
Use your hand to form a well (like a volcano) in the center of the flour.
Carefully pour your eggs into the center and begin slowly mixing together with a fork. Gradually, carefully, work your way all around to incorporate the eggs with the flour, without breaking the outer wall.
After about 5 - 10 minutes it will start coming together into a shaggy mass. Begin using your hands to knead the dough together. Work diligently for another 5 minutes until it is no longer shaggy.
Use the edges of your hands, knuckles, to work the dough until it starts to form a smooth ball. Roll it, applying pressure, into the work surface. Fold it. Roll it again. After about ten minutes it should be a smooth, and ready to rest.
Cut the dough into two and wrap each in plastic wrap. Set into the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
The following step revolve around using a pasta attachment on a Kitchenaid - but you could also do this by hand with a rolling pin. Remove one of the dough balls, unwrap, and cut off a portion of the dough. Lightly flour and cover the rest back with plastic. Press gently and form a rectangle.
Pass the dough through the sheet pasta attachment at it’s widest setting. If it feels sticky, add a little more flour. Gradually tighten the settings of the pasta attachment, one click at a time, and pass the pasta sheet through until it is light and delicate. I normally go to the 6th setting.
Allow the sheet of dough (sfoglia) to dry for 2-3 minutes. Use the circle cookie cutter and punch out as many circles as you can on each sheet of pasta dough. Save the scraps for maltagliati.
The next steps become much easier with a visual reference. I have provided a diagram below and the video helps to show the process. Again, it’s easier than you think. Using your metal pastry tip cone, place the large side in the center of one of the pasta circles. The dough should NOT be sticky. You don’t want it to stick to cone.
Fold the sides of the circle over the cone, and gently press them together with your thumb.
Using your other hand, carefully fold down the top of the cone to form what we’ll call the brim of the hat. The metal cone should be concealed inside the shape of the pasta.
Carefully slide the cone out, continuing to press gently at the seem. Flip upside down and allow to air dry for about 15 - 20 minutes before covering and setting into the refrigerator until you’re ready to cook. Repeat the process until you have no dough left. It moves quickly once you find your rhythm.
Cook right away of store in the fridge covered with a towel for up to a day.

Lamb Ragu

Ingredients:

1 lamb shoulder (broken down, trimmed, cut into 1 inch cubes)

1 onion (finely diced)

4 cloves garlic (minced)

½ cup celery (finely diced)

½ cup carrots (finely diced)

8 oz tomato paste

32 oz canned tomatoes (crushed)

1 cup red wine

2 cups hot broth

2 tbsp fresh sage (finely minced)

2 tbsp fresh thyme (finely minced)

3-4 bay leaves

Directions:

Break down the rabbit into 6 pieces. Hind legs, forelegs, and split the body into two. Season with salt and pepper.

Brown the meat on all sides in a deep pot. The less oil the better for getting a nice brown crust. Set aside.
Add the garlic, onions, celery, carrots and herbs and cook on medium/low for a few minutes until softened.
Add the tomato paste, a little olive oil, and mix together until well incorporated.
Pour in your red wine and simmer down for another few minutes. Use a wood spoon to scrape up any bits stuck to the bottom of the pot.
Add tomatoes and bring up to a low simmer. Add about a half a cup of broth and stir.
Add the lamb back into the pot, partially cover, and simmer for 1.5 hours - turning the meat every 15 minutes and stirring the sauce so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. If the sauce feels like it’s getting too thick add a little more hot broth to thin it out.
It normally takes me about 5 hours until the meat starts to shred and fall apart. This is how you want the ragu, without any big chunks of meat.
Shred the meat from the bones and pull apart into small pieces. Add the shredded meat back into the ragu and stir together.
Transfer a few ladles full into another pan and set on low heat. After your pasta is cooked, toss it with the pan ragu. Plate your pasta, add some more ragu on top.
Top each plate with a generous amount of freshly grated parmesan cheese or pecorino, and some fresh basil.

Cacio e Pepe with Black Trumpet Tagliatelle

September 02, 2020 by Philip Buccellato in mushrooms, pasta, wild food

Where you'd normally use tonnarelli I've gone and made a wild mushroom tagliatelle using black trumpet powder. Otherwise, I followed the rules of a traditional Cacio e Pepe - keeping it simple and limited to minimal ingredients; lots of cracked black pepper, sheep’s milk pecorino romano, a little olive oil, pasta water and some basil mostly just for show. When competing with lots of black pepper, the wild mushroom umami flavor is subtle but adds a nice layer to an otherwise simple simple dish. The color and texture of the noodles are beautiful and I’m looking forward to testing it out with other pasta dishes. A video of the whole process is below.

Black Trumpet Tagliatelle

Ingredients

430 g 00 Flour

20 g dehydrated wild mushroom powder

250 g eggs (beaten before mixing)

*Portioned for 5 - 6 people

Directions

Using a spice grinder (or similar) blitz your dried mushrooms into a very fine powder. Here I’m using black trumpets but you could easily substitute with any other edible wild mushroom.
Mix together the mushroom powder and flour into a bowl, and dump out onto your clean work surface.
Use your hand to form a well (like a volcano) in the center of the flour.
Carefully pour your eggs into the center and begin slowly mixing together with a fork. Gradually, carefully, work your way all around to incorporate the eggs with the flour, without breaking the outer wall.
After about 5 - 10 minutes it will start coming together into a shaggy mass. Begin using your hands to knead the dough together. Work diligently for another 5 minutes until it is no longer shaggy.
Use the edges of your hands, knuckles, to work the dough until it starts to form a smooth ball. Roll it, applying pressure, into the work surface. Fold it. Roll it again. After about ten minutes it should be a smooth, and ready to rest.
Cut the dough into two and wrap each in plastic wrap. Set into the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
The following steps revolve around using a pasta attachment on a Kitchenaid - but you could also do this by hand with a rolling pin. Remove one of the dough balls, unwrap, and cut off a portion of the dough. Lightly flour and cover the rest back with plastic. Press gently and form a rectangle.
Pass the dough through the sheet pasta attachment at it’s widest setting. If it feels sticky, add a little more flour. Gradually tighten the settings of the pasta attachment, one click at a time, and pass the pasta sheet through until it is light and delicate. For tagliatelle, I normally go to the 6th setting.
Allow the sheet of dough (sfoglia) to dry for 2-3 minutes and fold in half. With a knife, trim off irregular edges. Gently fold the dough into about 3 inch folds, over and over until you have a nice compact roll.
Using your knife, carefully begin cutting strips of the roll into about 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) pieces. With your fingers, unroll each strip and sprinkle with a light coating of semolina. You can make little nests with each batch that is finished. Repeat until all of your dough has transformed unto tagliatelle.
Cook right away of store in the fridge covered with a towel.

Cacio e pepe

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups freshly grated Pecorino Romano

1 1/2 tsp. of freshly ground black pepper

3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

Salt

1.5 cups pasta water

Directions

Bring a pot of water to a boil and add a dash of salt.
In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and add in crushed black pepper. Stir until the pepper becomes very fragrant. Turn off the heat.
Boil the fresh pasta.
Reserve about 1.5 cups of pasta water as the pasta finishes. The starch from the water is why you wouldn’t just use regular water here.
Transfer the cooked pasta into the skillet with pepper and oil. Toss until all of the noodles are coated.
Add about a cup of pasta water to the noodles and stir. This may feel like a lot but it will all come together when you…
Add all of the freshly grated Pecorino to the pasta, and stir very well until the cheese and water form a luxurious creamy coating all over the noodles. Add more pasta water as necessary.
Divide the pasta into individual plates and sprinkle on a little more fresh Pecorino. Garnish with basil is optional.

Black Trumpet Pizza "The Dark Side"

August 19, 2020 by Philip Buccellato in wild food, pizza

One of my goals for the summer was to find Black Trumpets, also called Horn of Plenty or Trumpets of Death. They are elusive to find and have a smell and flavor that is almost impossible to describe. Finally after countless miles walked, I found them. My mind almost always immediately starts thinking about pizza or pasta when cooking with wild mushrooms. I decided I wanted to do a pizza that really highlighted the mushrooms' wild flavors - which ultimately meant keeping it super simple. I left out anything that would distract from it's unique profile, so no garlic, no herbs, no overpowering cheese or spice. I started off with 4 ingredients; fontina, black trumpets, grated pecorino romano, and a high quality olive oil on a sourdough crust fired in a wood oven. After testing it, I added some finely minced chives from the garden and a tiny bit of lemon zest, and it was winning over the mushroom skeptics in the house. Video of the whole process below.

Ingredients:

Black Trumpets (sauteed in olive oil)

Fontina cheese

Grated pecorino romano cheese

Olive oil

Lemon Zest

Chives (finely diced)

Instructions:

The Mushrooms

The real heart of this pizza are the black trumpets. For this recipe I used fresh mushrooms but you can swap out with re-hydrated dried trumpets.
Saute the mushrooms in olive oil on medium low heat for just about a minute or two. Black trumpets cook very rapidly.

The Dough:

For the pizza dough I have been very happy using a Ken Forkish recipe from Flour Water Salt Yeast for an overnight dough with levain. It’s one of the few recipes that I have decided not to mess with as it always yields great results. Recently I’ve been using Caputo Manitoba flour which has been delivering wonderful results.

The Assembly & Finishing:

Stretch your dough.
Layer on small cubes of fontina cheese equally across the dough.
Sprinkle with a generous portion of grated pecorino.
Layer on the cooked mushrooms evenly across the middle of the dough.
Sprinkle on more pecorino.
Bake your pizza. I use a wood fired Ooni Pro but use whatever works for you.
Once it comes out of the oven, piping hot, drizzle on some high quality olive oil.
Sprinkle on finely diced chives.
Top with fresh lemon zest.
Enjoy!