Sourdough Fettuccine and Combs Tooth Mushroom Bordelaise

On Friday I lucked out by foraging one-and-a-half pounds of beautiful combs tooth mushrooms. One thing I love about combs tooth and its hericium cousin, lion’s mane, is their scent. I say scent as opposed to smell because of how simply wonderful they are in fragrance and flavor.

The last time I had mushrooms from the hericium family was when Katie and I grew lion’s mane from a mushroom grow kit back in April of this year. I cooked them like you would a French steak; seared and de-glazed with a lovely bordelaise sauce—recipe a-la-Jeremy Fox. Sauce bordelaise is a classic red wine reduction sauce. In his king trumpet mushroom bordelaise recipe, possibly as an afterthought, Fox lobs the suggestion of tossing your pasta in bordelaise sauce. And here we are.

I have made sourdough pasta a small handful of times; it’s trendy and surely apocryphal, but no matter. At the end of the day, using sourdough discard to make pasta is far more quick and convenient than baking sourdough loaves, as delicious and time-consuming as they are. 

For the fettuccine:

• 100g active sourdough starter
• 50g semolina
• 50 all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

For Jeremy Fox’s bordelaise:

• 2 cups red wine
• 1 large shallot, sliced thinly into rings
• 2 bey leaves
• 1 cup unfiltered apple juice
• 1 quart mushroom stock

For the mushrooms:

• 1/2 pound combs tooth mushrooms, swirled in cold water, debris removed and broken into bite-size clusters
• 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 heaping tablespoon fresh sage leaves, chiffonade
• Fresh shavings of parmigiano-reggiano
• Salt and pepper, to taste

To begin the pasta: Combine the semolina, all-purpose flour, salt, and sourdough in a bowl and mix until a shaggy dough forms. Turn the mixing bowl onto a work surface and continue to knead the dough thoroughly for ten minutes. Wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and let rest for at least 30 minutes.

To make the bordelaise: Meanwhile, add the red wine, sliced shallots and bey leaves to a heavy-bottomed pot. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat. Let simmer for 20-30 minutes, until the wine has reduced by about half. Pour in the apple juice and reduce for another 15 minutes. Add the mushroom stock and let simmer for another 20 minutes, until you’re left with about a cup of liquid. Remove from heat; strain out and discard the solids. Set aside to cool.

Returning to the pasta: Dust your work surface and unwrapped dough ball with all-purpose flour.  Laminate and fortify the dough by running it through the widest setting of a pasta machine one time, then folding in the resulting sheet into thirds, like an envelope. Briefly tamp down the layers with a couple rolls of your rolling pin, then send the dough envelope through the widest setting again, 90 degrees turned from the first time you ran it through. Repeat this process, turning the dough 90 degrees every time you run it through, for a total of 3 or 4 times, until the dough sheet is uniform. Run the pasta through to the second widest setting on your machine, and cut the sheet into footlong lengths. Run the cut sheets through a fettuccine attachment to make fettuccine. Alternately, you can cut the sheets into noodles by hand with a knife. For a detailed explanation, see my previous post. Roll the cut noodles around your palm to form a nest. Place pasta nests on a sheet tray lined with flour-dusted parchment paper to dry for 10 minutes.

To cook the mushrooms: Preheat a skillet over medium-high flame and bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add the mushrooms to the skillet and dry saute until their water has cooked out, about 5 minutes. Mount with butter and chopped sage. Using tweezers or chopsticks, flip all of the mushrooms over and over, until they are nicely caramelized on both sides. De-glaze with a splash of bordelaise. Remove the skillet from the heat. Add 3/4 cup of bordelaise to the pan and set aside.

To finish the dish: When the salted water reaches a full boil, add the pasta nests and boil for no longer than 1 minute. Fish out the cooked pasta using a spyder or sieve, landing it right into the mushroom bordelaise mixture. Thoroughly stir the pasta into the sauce.

To serve, use a pair of tongs to twirl and transfer the pasta to plates. Place the cooked mushrooms in a circle around the pasta. Garnish with fresh shavings of parmesan and additional chopped sage leaves.