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Winter has finally arrived in South Africa and this body is craving a more substantial fare than the summer orientated dishes we enjoyed up to recently. Carbs, proteins and gravy is definitely high on the culinary Agenda these days. Yet, I am not quite in the mood for a regular progression curried dishes or hefty, oven braised dishes and meaty stews; it’s not quite that cold yet. However, I suspect the opportunities for the serious stuff will arrive soon.

 

Bacon, mushroom and some sort of sweet wine – sherry, port, muscadel, etc. – is a fairly classic combination, the sweetness offsetting the savoury saltiness of bacon or salted pork. I prefer Marsala wine for this combination as it is not as cloyingly sweet as some ports or sherries. Nor is Marsala as complex and ‘deep’ in flavour (particularly in its fruitiness) as many dry or semi-sweet sherries.

 

In fact, I regard Marsala as ‘just right’ in its application here in this dish. The combination of bacon and sautéed mushroom is not as rich and overbearing as oxtail, beef shin or lamb shank based braising dishes or stews. All three of those candidates require a hefty and gutsy wine to stand up on its own in the face of all the savouriness and fattiness it will be confronted with.

 

Use a mild BBQ sauce for this recipe. The main flavours are not robust and the button mushrooms get overwhelmed easily unless you substitute them with something more robust such as portobellos. Marsala wine does not provide any savouriness to support the rather one dimensional combination of bacon and sautéed onion in the company of the wine’s mild fruitiness. The chicken marinade should be a mildly herby choice as well for the same reason as using a mild BBQ sauce. The function of the marinade is to provide a gentle, herby base note to the final sauce (and some mild acidity as well) without taking over.

Dear old lemon juice provides that tartness that sharpens and lifts out the other mild flavours, preventing them from disappearing into the general ‘hubbub’ of the final dish.

 

Vegetarian Option:

Replace the bacon with fried haloumi cheese; I’d say approximately 100g. Fry the haloumi first, remove and set it aside until right at the end, just before plating on the pasta. Returning the haloumi to the dish at the end of cooking will prevent the fried cheese from going ‘gloopy’ and losing its structural integrity.

 

 

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MARSALA, BACON & MUSHROOM PASTA

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Recipe yields: 1 Portion

Preparation time: ± 25 Minutes

Cooking time: 25 Minutes

Difficulty level: Easy

 

Ingredients:

White onion, diced	½
Sunflower oil	10ml
White button mushrooms, sliced	125g
Streaky bacon, diced or bacon bits	75g
Marsala wine	60ml
BBQ Sauce	15ml
Chicken marinade	15ml
Lemon juice	15ml
Corn flour	10ml
Garlic, chopped	2.5ml
Oregano, dried	2.5ml
Black pepper, freshly ground	± ½ ml
Frozen garden peas, defrosted	75g
Kosher salt	± 2 ml
For The Pasta:
Spiral form pasta	85g
Salt	2.5ml
Water	600ml
Butter, unsalted	5ml

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Method:

1. Sauté the onions in the oil over medium heat until soft and glassy. Add the mushrooms and continue sautéing until the mushrooms rendered their liquid and the pan contents is dry. Transfer the vegetables to a bowl and set aside, covered, until needed. Return the used sauté pan to the heat.
2. Add the bacon and sauté until the bacon is fully cooked but not browning. Return the reserved onions and mushrooms to the pan and stir through to reheat. Adjust the heat to medium low.
3. While the bacon is cooking, combine wine, BBQ sauce, marinade, lemon juice, corn flour, oregano and black pepper in a small bowl. Stir vigorously with a fork to ensure the flour is fully mixed into the liquid and no lumps remain.
4. Add the wine, sauce & herb mixture to the bacon, mushroom & onion in the pan. Stir through and scrape the bottom of the pan to lift any stuck material. Stir frequently until the sauce starts to simmer and thickens. If necessary, add hot water in small quantities until the sauce reaches a thick, sluggish consistency.
5. Add the defrosted garden peas and salt. Stir through and allow to simmer only briefly before removing the pan from the heat. Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary with extra salt and pepper.
6. Allow the pan to rest, covered, for 5 – 6 minutes to allow the flavours to develop.
7. Spoon the mushroom, marsala, bacon & pea mixture over the buttered pasta and serve immediately with a generous sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese.

 

For the pasta:

1.  Boil the pasta in the salted water until the desired texture is reached.
2. Drain thoroughly and immediately add the butter. Stir thoroughly to ensure that all the pasta is butter coated.
3. Allow the hot, buttered pasta to rest 3 – 4 minutes uncovered in the cooking vessel to dry it out somewhat before using it.

 

© RS Young, 2021

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