Serves 4-6
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh butter beans or other shelling beans (from about 2 # in the pod), or 1 cup dried cannelini or other white bean, cleaned
- 1 small bay leaf
- Salt & pepper
- 3 oz thickly sliced pancetta or slab bacon, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch wide lardons
- Extra virgin oil
- 1 med red onion diced
- 12 oz wild chanterelle mushrooms, thickly sliced or chopped or a mixture of pale oyster mushrooms
- 3 to 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp crushed pepper flakes to taste
- 1 tsp freshly chopped rosemary, plus a sprig for the pasta pot
- 1 # bucatini, spaghetti or other dry pasta
- 2 tbsp roughly chopped parsley
- Parmesan or pecorino cheese, grated (optional)
Directions
Put beans in a pot and cover with water by 2 inches. Add bay leaf and 1/2 tsp salt and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a simmer and cook until tender, about 30 minutes, Let beans cool to room temperature in cooking liquid and set aside. When cool, taste and correct salt, (If using dried beans, cooking time will be about 1 hour).Prepare a large pot of water for cooking pasta and bring to a boil, Put pancetta in a wide deep skillet over med -hi heat, Add 1 tbsp olive oil and stir to coat, Let lardons sizzle gently until crisp & golden, about 3 minutes. Add onions season lightly with salt and cook, stirring, until lightly browned and softened, about 5 minutes. Remove onion mixture from pan & set aside. Return pan to stove over high heat and add 2 tbsp olive oil. When oil is hot, add chanterelles and stir to coat, Season generously with salt & pepper and cook, stirring until lightly browned, about 2 minutes, Turn heat to med and stir in garlic crushed red pepper flakes and chopped rosemary. Cook for a minute more and turn off the heat, Add a handful of salt to the pasta water, then add rosemary sprig and bring to a full boil, Add bucatini and stir well, Adjust the heat to keep pasta cooking briskly. Cook until firmly al dente (you should feel it is not quite done) drain. While pasta is cooking, put skillet of mushrooms back on med-hi heat. Add reserved onion-pancetta mixture and heat through, stirring, Add beans and 1 cup bean cooking liquid and bring to a simmer. Add cooked pasta to pan and stir well, coating the pasta with the mushroom-bean mixture. While stirring, let pasta finish cooking, about 1 minute more, adding a little more bean liquid if necessary. Transfer to a wide pasta bowl, sprinkle with parsley and serve. Offer grated Parmesan or pecorino cheese if you wish.