One of the nice things about the “local, seasonal” style of cooking is that when a favorite recipe goes out of season, and you don’t have it for months at a time, you really look forward to when it will be back on your table again. The pasta recipe here is a major favorite of mine. I just tried it for my veggie brother, too, and he absolutely loved it. The recipe below is slightly changed from one in Georgeanne Brennan’s Potager (one of our all-time favorite cookbooks) which is arranged by season. While the ingredients — pea pods, mushrooms — are usually or always available, this recipe is very light and bright in its flavor and definitely seems “springy” to me. It’s easy to like, with its butter and salt, but it’s not just that. The flavor blend is totally delicious. I think chives are magic :) Plus, it’s quite easy to do.
I’ve written out the recipe as I make it, for Mr pixxer and me, and organized it the way I think about cooking. Ingredients are in bold lettering. The original recipe says it serves 4, but I noted in the cookbook that it actually serves 3 if it’s supposed to be a full dinner (and we’re not big eaters). So this is 2/3 of the original recipe — dinner for two — which has led me to list an unusual measurement here and there. The other change I made after the first time I tried this recipe was to double the mushrooms relative to the other ingredients.
Fettucine with peapods and mushrooms — after Georgeanne Brennan
Pre-prep:
Clean and slice mushrooms (brown or white) to make 2/3 cup (this is doubled relative to the other ingredients).
Clean and de-thread 2/3 cup peapods. For beauty, leave them whole; if you prefer to favor eatability, cut them in half crosswise to make bite-sized pieces. Place in one layer (or as well as you can do) on a steamer rack.
Wash, dry, and clip enough chives to make something like 4 tsp.
Grate about 1/6 cup parmaggiano (that’s 2/3 of ¼ cup :)
Grind 1/3 tsp black pepper (but I can’t say I’ve ever actually measured this).
Cooking:
Boil a small layer of water in a pan large enough to hold the steamer with pea pods. When the water boils, place the steamer in the pan and cover. Steam 1 minute; the pods should turn a rich, dark green. Remove the steamer from the pan and set aside.
Boil enough water (salted!) for the 8 oz fettucine and cook according to package directions.
Probably about the time the pasta goes into the water, saute the mushrooms in about 1 Tbsp butter, adding a generous 1/2 tsp salt to them. Saute “until just barely cooked, 2 to 3 minutes.” Timing: It’s ideal for the mushrooms to be still warm, and their butter still melted, when the pasta is done and drained.
Drain the pasta well. [I pour some of the pasta water into the serving bowls, so they will still be very hot when dinner starts, and won’t suck the heat out of the pasta.] Return the fettucine to the hot pan (possibly first returning the pan to the stove a bit to evaporate the last of the water). I leave this on low heat, to keep everything warm during the final steps, below. [The original recipe has you place the fettucine in a very well heated bowl, but using the pan works great — easy to keep warm, and less to clean up!]
Final assembly:
To the fettucine in the pan, add about 4 tsp heavy cream. [My notes say I have used half and half and it was fine.]
Add 1/3 tsp freshly ground black pepper (but again, don’t stress about measuring pepper...)
Another 1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp butter (cut up a bit, for faster melting)
The parmaggiano and HALF the chives.
Finally, fold in the mushrooms and the pea pods. The mushrooms have most of the salt in the recipe, so be sure they are well distributed. Fold until the butter is completely melted.
Serving:
Empty the water from the heated serving bowls and quickly wipe with a clean cloth. Serve out the pasta, and top with the remaining chives.
Enjoy!
Do you have any happy spring recipes you especially enjoy?
What’s for dinner at your house?
If you have a recipe or other food story you’d like to write up for WFD, please kosmail ninkasi23, or reply to her list of open dates in the comments.
Here — have a random apple blossom —