Penne Boscaiola

Knowing it was going to be a sub-freezing night, I decided to work up a REALLY hearty meal. But I’ve done a lot of those lately, so I wanted to try something new. In my research I came across a meal I’ve never cooked before, Penne Boscaiola (Woodsman-Style Pasta With Mushrooms and Bacon).

All of my spaghetti sauces have always relied on oregano and basil for the savory seasoning. This sauce is about rosemary and thyme. This one has no oregano or basil.

I found a dozen good recipes, and drew up a plan of my own, that involved some of things that drew my attention. And as have been wont to do lately, I wanted to cook it in my cast iron skillet. But this would be perfect for a dutch oven. Thus…

I pan fried 4 strips of bacon (cut in half) and set them aside, but left the bacon grease. Then I pan fried a pound of mild pork sausage, but separated it after cooking so I could use the other half for future recipes. I chopped up my half in the pan that I wanted to use and crisped it up. I set that aside and wiped the pan to remove a lot of grease.

To this I added a minced onion, caramelized it, added 3 cloves of garlic and then tossed in a pile of sliced mushrooms. Anything would work, I did about 4 shitake and 4 portabela. I added rosemary and thyme to taste and then poured in about a cup of avionics blanc. Any dry white wine would be good. I cooked this down for about 20 minutes.

I then added a can of crushed tomatoes and let it cook at a low heat for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile I heated up a pot of water, and once at a boil I added my pasta (I used rigatoni) and cooked it al dente. It would finish in the sauce.

Using the pasta water, I tempered about a cup of half and half (there was no cream in town) to keep it from breaking when added to the sauce. I mixed this in. I also added a cup of finely shredded Parmesan.

I went out to the garden and collected my parsley. It was frozen, but perfect. Tonight was my garden’s last night for the year. Tomorrow it would be gone. I added some to the sauce and set some aside.

The pasta goes into the sauce and cooks until it is complete.

The final result is dusted with some parm and the last of the chopped parsley.

A very hearty meal and a nice departure from a traditional spaghetti sauce.