Whole Wheat Pasta with Chestnuts, Mushrooms and Shallots
By: Natalie
Published: Wednesday, November 28, 2012 - 6:55pm

Ingredients




Whole wheat pasta (penne or ziti) I like De Cecco Whole Wheat Penne
1 to 1 1/2 cups of chestnuts (I used Roland brand in a glass gar that I had left over from thanksgiving)
Dried Mushrooms (I used porcinis)
1 cup of shallots (about 4) peeled and sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbs oil (I used grape)
1 tbs butter
grated cheese to taste
Fresh sage leaves divided(optional)

Preparation

1 Soak mushrooms in very hot water. 2 For the pasta, bring water to boil in large pot. Salt generously. 3 Heat a skillet on medium high, add oil. Add shallots, salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes. In the meantime, chop chestnuts into 1/4 inch chunks. Add them to the skillet. Cook for another 5 minutes. 4 Remove mushrooms from water, strain and RESEVE liquid. Wash the mushrooms. Chop and add to skillet with a bit more salt and pepper. Add a few sage leaves as well if using. Reserve the rest of sage. 5 Strain liquid from mushrooms through a seeve or a paper towel, add liquid to your skillet. Cook another 5-7 minutes. 6 Cook pasta till tender but not mushy. Drain pasta, reserve a little water. Combine pasta with the chestnuts/shallot/mushroom mix. Add butter, heat till melted. If needed, add a little reserved water. 7 Serve immediately topped with grated cheese. 8 If you are using sage, heat some oil in a small skilled till very hot and fry the sage leaves. I am currently obsessed with doing this. About 2 minutes per side and drain on paper towel. They immediately make a simple pasta look gourmet. 9 I served this with a side of roasted zucchini.

About

All the Thanksgiving cooking left me with about a cup and a half of roasted chestnuts that I needed to use. And all the leftover turkey eating left me craving pasta big time. Here is what I made! Light and satisfying at the same time!