Recipes
Second course
Pasta and macaroni
Pasta alla boscaiola (mushroom, olives, and sausage pasta)

Pasta alla boscaiola (mushroom, olives, and sausage pasta)

Pasta and macaroni Italian cuisine

This is a Tuscan dish symbolic of the fall when fresh, foraged mushrooms fill the markets and families go out on the weekend expeditions to collect funghi. The recipe changes from household to household, with mushrooms being the only steady ingredient. Sausage can be replaced with pancetta, or left out all together. Very often cream features in this favorite trattoria dish, but I prefer less cream (just a splash) and not too much Parmesan so you can benefit from the full flavor of wild mushrooms. I suggest using any fresh, wild mushrooms, particularly porcini, chantarelles, and chiodini (honey) mushrooms. If you cannot get these, you can also use regular button mushrooms, Swiss browns, oyster mushrooms, or shimeji mushrooms (a mixture is always a good idea). If using just button mushrooms, you can add also some dried porcini mushrooms for extra flavor—place about 30 grams or 1 ounce of mushrooms in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Let soften for about 15 minutes and add the mushrooms, along with their liquid, with the wine in the steps below. You can make the sauce in advance in an airtight container in the refrigerator. In this case, reserving some of the cooking water is a very good idea.