Chanterelle Mushroom Penne Boscaiola

The English translation of pasta alla boscaiola is “woodsman’s pasta,” and this dish is just that. It features the rich, earthy flavors of fresh chanterelle mushrooms, which aren’t traditional in the recipe, but are even better than the porcini mushrooms more often used.

With plenty of meaty mushrooms and smoky bacon, this pasta dish channels the flavor of the outdoors. Images by author

The woodsy flavor of the mushrooms is paired with the campfire smokiness of diced bacon and earthy fresh rosemary, giving you a rich and hearty pasta dish with all the flavors of the outdoors.

This simple rustic pasta dish is a great way to turn your chanterelle mushrooms into a meal everyone will love.

While chanterelles are easy to find and identify, as with all wild mushrooms, it is always a good idea to go with an experienced forager if you are new to the game. If you can’t find someone to take you, get two or three good wild mushroom identification books and cross reference every mushroom you find with all of them. Some wild mushrooms are deadly or can make you wish you were dead. Always be sure of your harvest before eating them or serving them to friends and family.

It is always a good idea to go mushroom hunting with an experienced forager before picking and eating wild fungi.

For the tomato portion of the sauce, you can use a can of chopped tomatoes that you have drained, or, even better, a fresh tomato from the garden. Just give a quick chop and rest it on a few layers of paper towels for several minutes to draw away some of the moisture. I like to chop the tomato at the beginning of the recipe, then let it drain until I’m ready to build the sauce.

Drain the canned of freshly chopped tomato to remove some of the moisture.

Penne pasta is the traditional choice for this dish, but it works with whatever pasta you have in the pantry. Start the salted pasta water as you start the sauce so that it is cooked al dente as your sauce comes together.

Start with the bacon. Chop it into small pieces and add them to a large skillet over medium heat. As the bacon cooks, slice larger chanterelles in half or smaller. Small to medium mushrooms are fine whole.

Crisp the bacon then remove it from the pan.

Finely chop your shallots. Once the bacon is crisp, remove it from the pan, leaving the drippings behind. Add the mushrooms to the skillet and give them a light sprinkle of kosher or sea salt. Chanterelles hold a lot of moisture, so let them release that liquid and start to soften and absorb the bacon drippings, probably 7 to 10 minutes.

Add the mushrooms to the bacon drippings.

Once the moisture has left the mushrooms and evaporated from the pan, add the diced shallot and minced garlic. If the mushrooms have absorbed all of the bacon grease by that point, you can add a pat or two of butter before adding the shallot and garlic to prevent burning. Add the sprigs of rosemary and chopped flat leaf parsley at this time.

Add the shallot, garlic and rosemary.

Once the shallot is soft and translucent, add the wine, heavy cream and tomato.

Add the tomato and the heavy cream.

Stir gently to mix, scraping up any stuck on bits from the bottom of the pan. Bring to a simmer. Add the freshly grated parmesan cheese and stir to incorporate.

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Once the sauce has come together, drain the al dente pasta and add the noodles to the sauce in the skillet. Toss well to evenly coat the pasta.

Add the cooked pasta to the sauce and toss to coat.

Top with additional flat leaf parsley and parmesan cheese just before serving.

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