Looking for a tasty alternative to traditional bolognese? This delicious wild mushroom bolognese is the recipe for you! It is a delicious twist on a classic bolognese and ready in just an hour.
Have you ever thought about making a bolognese with mushrooms? It is something I recently tried at our home and the results are really delicious.
This is not a traditional bolognese, not just because it has mushrooms instead of meat but because it uses bacon instead of guanciale or Italian pancetta.
You know what though, that is what Italian cooking is all about. Italian cooking is not always about following rules but about using ingredients that are in season and available to you.
So I guess you can say this is in some ways authentic 🙂
Why mushrooms are a great way to make a bolognese!
Mushrooms have always been the perfect replacement for meat. They have a meaty flavor (some more than others) and they have a nice chewy bite.
For this recipe, wild mushrooms are used which really adds even more meaty flavor to the bolognese. Mushrooms are a really great alternative to using meat and my favorite part, more economical! Whether you are cutting back on meat like with my mushroom bacon carbonara or making the mushrooms part of the main dish like with this recipe or my mushroom pappardelle, mushrooms make the perfect addition to pasta.
How to make
What you will need
- Wild mushrooms: I like to mix a few for flavor and interest. I use cremini (just like in my Italian mushrooms recipe) and shitake. However, feel free to use what is available to you. Porcini, button mushrooms, portabella mushrooms
- Bacon: I like a thick-cut bacon that is not too sweet.
- Tomato passata or tomato sauce: The base of the mushroom sauce.
- Carrots, Fresh Garlic Cloves, and Onion: For the base flavor of the sauce.
- Kosher salt and black pepper: For flavor.
- White wine: Wine is a classic part of bolognese and it helps deglaze the pan.
- Cream: I like to use a heavy cream. You can use whole milk as well.
- Pasta: I like rigatoni but you can use tagliatelle or spaghetti.
- Olive oil: I like using extra virgin olive oil.
- Parmigiano-reggiano cheese: For topping the mushroom ragu.
Ingredients Note: A classic Italian sofrito has diced celery as well. I cannot stand celery so I omit it. Feel free to add it if you like it.
Making the wild mushroom bolognese
- Prep ingredients: Prep all the ingredients, finely dicing the carrots, onion and garlic and chopping the mushrooms.
- Saute: In a large saute pan, saute the ingredients you just prepped until fully cooked.
- Reduce the liquids: The two reducing steps of any bolognese recipe, first reduce the wine, then add the dairy (cream) and fully reduce.
- Simmer the mushroom mixture: Add the tomato sauce then simmer for about an hour.
- Cook the pasta: Cook your pasta until al dente and make sure to reserve some of that pasta water. It will help thin the sauce a bit when you toss in the pasta.
- Toss: Toss cooked pasta with the wild mushroom bolognese sauce and enjoy.
What to serve with mushroom bolognese
If you want some tasty sides to serve with this, here are some of our favorites:
More Delicious Italian Pasta Recipes
If you love this wild mushroom bolognese, you may also like these:
How To Make Mushroom Bolognese (With Pasta)
Ingredients
- 1 lb rigatoni or tagliatelle
- 28 oz pureed tomatoes
- 16 ounces Wild mushrooms diced
- ½ cup carrots finely diced
- ½ cup yellow onion finely diced
- ½ cup Italian white wine
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup Freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more to taste
- ½ teaspoon fresh black pepper
Instructions
Wild mushroom Bolognese
- In a large pan over medium heat, add your olive oil, carrots, and onion and cook for about 4-5 minutes or until they begin to soften.½ cup carrots, 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, ½ cup yellow onion
- In the same pan add your mushrooms and cook for about 3-4 minutes until lightly golden.16 ounces Wild mushrooms
- Now add all of your wine and cook until the wine almost completely evaporates and gets absorbed into the meat.½ cup Italian white wine
- Once your wine has completely evaporated out (you cannot smell the alcohol anymore) add the cream and completely reduce.½ cup heavy cream
- Add tomatoes and mix well.28 oz pureed tomatoes
- Next, add salt and pepper and mix well.1 teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon fresh black pepper
- Cover with a tight-fitting lid, turn down heat down to low, and allow to gently simmer for at least 1 hour, preferably 2, making sure to check it every 30 minutes or so and give it a good stir.
- Taste for seasoning and see if it needs any salt.
Pasta
- Bring a large pot of water to boil on the stove.
- When the water is boiling salt it well and add your pasta. Follow the instructions on the box of spaghetti for cooking just to al dente. For fresh pasta usually 2-3 minutes is all you need.1 lb rigatoni
- Once the pasta if cooked drain the pasta and place it back into the pot. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water in case you need to thin the sauce.
- Add 1 ladle of the red sauce to the pasta and mix well to prevent it from sticking to itself.
Serving
- Toss the pasta and sauce together.
- Serve this with freshly grated Parmesan on the side.½ cup Freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano
- Enjoy!
Comments
No Comments