A RAGU JUST FOR YOU
When you come across a dish that’s not only easy to make but delightfully, deeply delicious, you hang onto it with both hands.
For me, that dish is this Mushroom Ragù Pappardelle. I want to slurp it off my fork all night long. Order extra bread and mop-mop-mop until the plate’s wiped clean.
It’s the kind of meal that cloaks your taste buds in a sensual umami funk, the mushrooms silky and deep, tangled up with golden noodles in a sauce that tastes like it’s been simmering for days.
And the best part?
Make a batch, and you’ve got a secret weapon in your fridge. It’s just as good over mash, on polenta, or spooned into a bowl solo with a crisp salad and glass of wine.
But since this is a pasta newsletter, you know what to do:
Pair it with pappardelle.
Mushroom Ragù with Pappardelle
- Serves
- 4
- Prep
- 15 min
- Soak
- 30 min
- Cook
- 1 hr 20 min
Ingredients
- 15g dried porcini
- 850g mixed fresh mushrooms (keep small whole, tear larger)
- 50g unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 onions, thinly sliced
- ½ large celeriac, peeled and diced (360g)
- Salt
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1¼ tsp urfa chilli flakes (or ½ tsp standard)
- 1½ tbsp white miso paste
- 1 preserved lemon (flesh & seeds removed, skin thinly sliced – 15g)
- 1½ tbsp sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
- 1½ tbsp plain flour
- 400ml veg or chicken stock
- 30ml double cream
- 10g fresh tarragon, roughly chopped (+ extra to garnish)
Method
- Soak the porcini in 125ml boiling water for 30 mins. Drain (save the liquid), then chop.
- Roast fresh mushrooms on a lined tray at 200°C for 25 mins, stirring halfway. Set aside.
- In a large sauté pan, heat butter & oil. Add onions, celeriac, and ½ tsp salt. Cook 15–20 mins until caramelised.
- Add garlic, roasted mushrooms, porcini. Cook 3 mins. Stir in chilli, miso, preserved lemon, vinegar. Cook 30 secs.
- Stir in flour, cook 30 secs, then add stock, porcini liquid & ¾ tsp salt. Simmer covered on low for 25 mins.
- Stir in cream. Simmer uncovered 5 more mins. Remove from heat, fold in tarragon.
- Serve over wide ribbons of pappardelle, and garnish with extra herbs.