Super Fancy Vegetarian Bolognese Adventure
The first months after moving from NYC to Boulder, I was trying to get my bearings. A friend invited me to an informal local mountaineering group’s potluck. I looked online and stumbled across Giada De Laurentiis’ vegetarian bolognese recipe. So I got to work, hoping my offering would go over well. Maybe they’d let me join.
In those days I relied on a bike, savoring the clean, dry air and marveling at the Flatirons. But years of New York City stress — Is that paint or poop on his jeans? Am I going to make rent this month? — left me out of shape and mentally unprepared for climbing and scaling mountains.
After setting my giant bowl of pasta with the other offerings at the potluck, I listened to stories about recent expeditions in the very serious nearby mountains. I realized that I was losing my appetite for long slogs with people I’d just met, no matter how friendly they seemed. My eagerness for ridiculous outdoor adventure was tempered.
They were a good-hearted bunch that encouraged me to return. They also didn’t leave much pasta to take home. About eight years and what felt like a lifetime later, I stumbled across the recipe in my collection and decided to make it for a second time.
Guillaume gave it an enthusiastic “very good” and went for seconds. This dish is an impressive main course for a small dinner party, or a revelatory potluck.
The ingredients are not cheap — the ounce of dried porcini mushrooms cost as much as the bottle of wine, for example. But the depth of flavor is worth investing in high-quality ingredients. And it comes together fairly quickly. Here’s Giada’s recipe, with some tiny tweaks:
Rigatoni with Vegetable Bolognese
1 oz. dried porcini mushrooms
1½ C. hot water
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 garlic cloves
¼ C. olive oil
2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp. chopped fresh oregano leaves
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
5 oz. assorted mushrooms (like shiitake, cremini, and brown), stemmed and chopped
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
½ C. red wine
½ C. mascarpone cheese
1 lb. rigatoni pasta
¼ C. Parmesan to serve
Place the dried mushrooms in a small bowl and cover with 1½ cup very hot water. Set aside and let the mushrooms soften for around 20 minutes.
Place the carrots, onion, bell pepper, and garlic in a food processor. Pulse the vegetables until finely chopped but still a little chunky. Place the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chopped vegetables, thyme, oregano, pepper, and salt — can add 1½ tsp. to start and adjust seasoning before adding the pasta at the end. Cook until tender, about 6 minutes.
Strain the porcini mushrooms, reserving the porcini mushroom liquid. Chop porcini into bite-size pieces if they’re too big.
Add the porcini mushrooms, fresh mushrooms, and tomato paste and continue cooking, stirring to dissolve the tomato paste, until the mushrooms are softened, about 5 minutes. Add the porcini mushroom liquid and red wine.
Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and let the mixture simmer until the liquid is reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Add mascarpone cheese and stir just until the cheese is incorporated.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta, reserving ½ cup of the cooking liquid and add to the vegetable mixture. Add some of the reserved pasta cooking liquid, if necessary, to moisten the sauce. Toss with Parmesan and serve.
Mountaineering cred optional.