Recipe: Pine Mushrooms Are Back. Make Them Sing in This Silky Pasta by Stokehouse’s Executive Chef

Pine mushrooms are one of autumn’s fleeting pleasures. They’re earthy, faintly spiced, and savoury in a way that defies the season’s reputation for restraint.

At [Melbourne restaurant] Stokehouse, we keep the treatment simple: butter, garlic, white wine, a little thyme and a jus that’s been coaxed over eight hours from roasted bones. The pasta does the rest.

This recipe is built in three parts: the jus, the dough and the dish itself. The jus and dough can both be made ahead, making this far more achievable on a weeknight than it looks.

If you’re pressed for time, a quality store-bought chicken stock reduced by half will serve you well. The fresh pasta, though, is worth making. It takes the dish somewhere no dried pasta can follow.

Pine mushroom tagliatelle with chicken jus by Jason Staudt

Serves 5–6
Prep time: 45 minutes, plus 8 hours to simmer and 30 minutes to rest
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

10g butter
50ml olive oil
425–500g pine mushrooms, cleaned and sliced or torn
60g peeled garlic, finely sliced
5g fresh thyme leaves
150ml dry white wine
250ml chicken jus
600g fresh tagliatelle
90g unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
15ml lemon juice
Fresh black pepper, cracked, to season
15g pecorino, grated

Chicken jus

3kg chicken bones
6L cold water
3g fresh thyme

Pasta dough

400g white semolina (fine)
200g yellow semolina (coarse)
3 large free-range eggs, approx 160g
50–70ml cold water

Method

For the chicken jus, preheat your oven to 200°C. Spread the chicken bones across a large roasting tray in a single layer. Roast for 40 minutes until deeply golden and caramelised.

Carefully drain any excess fat into a heatproof container and set aside. Transfer the bones to a large stockpot.

Cover completely with cold water. Bring to the boil over high heat, skimming any impurities that rise to the surface. Reduce to a gentle simmer.

Simmer for 8 hours, adding the thyme in the final hour. Top up with water if the bones become exposed.

Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, discarding the solids. Return the liquid to the pot and reduce over medium heat until you have approximately 300ml of glossy, concentrated jus – it should coat the back of a spoon.

Pass through a fine chinois lined with a piece of muslin or a coffee filter for a perfectly clear finish. Cool and refrigerate until needed.

For the pasta dough, combine both semolinas in a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the eggs.

Using a fork, beat the eggs while gradually drawing in the semolina from the inside wall of the well. Continue until a shaggy dough begins to form.

Add water, a splash at a time, only if the dough feels too dry to come together. It should be firm and not sticky – semolina dough is intentionally stiffer than flour-based pasta dough.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead firmly for 8–10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Wrap tightly in cling film and rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.

Divide the dough into manageable portions. Using a pasta machine or rolling pin, roll each piece down to setting 5 or 6 (roughly 2mm thickness). Dust liberally with semolina between passes to prevent sticking.

Fold the sheets loosely and cut into ribbons approximately 8mm wide to form the tagliatelle. Toss with semolina and set aside until needed.

To finish, bring a large pot of well-salted water to a rolling boil. You should be able to taste the salt.

Meanwhile, in a wide, heavy-based pan over medium-high heat, add a small knob of butter and olive oil. Once foaming, add the pine mushrooms in a single layer – work in batches if needed. Resist the urge to stir. Let them colour deeply on one side before turning, around 3–4 minutes.

Add the sliced garlic and thyme. Cook for a further 60 seconds until the garlic is just softened and fragrant – do not burn.

Pour in the white wine and let it reduce by three-quarters, approximately 1–2 minutes. Add the chicken jus and bring to a gentle simmer.

Back to the pasta: drop the fresh tagliatelle into the boiling water and cook for 2–3 minutes until just under al dente; you want to finish cooking the pasta in the sauce. Reserve a cup of pasta water before draining.

Add the slightly undercooked and drained pasta directly to the pan with the mushroom sauce. Begin incorporating the cold butter, cube by cube, tossing or stirring the pan vigorously to emulsify. Add a splash of pasta water to loosen and bring the sauce together – it should coat every ribbon generously.

Finish with the lemon juice and cracked black pepper for a final toss.

Serve on a platter and finish with fresh pecorino over the top.

Notes

Pine mushrooms are seasonal and fleeting, available for only a few weeks in autumn. If you can’t source them, a combination of flat mushrooms, Swiss browns and shiitake mushrooms makes a worthy substitute – they are all over the markets right now. I wouldn’t suggest foraging for mushrooms unless you have proper training.

If purchasing chicken stock, ensure it’s of good quality and has a bit of “jiggle” – it should be purchased from a fridge, not an aisle.

The cold butter technique (beurre monté) is what gives the sauce its gloss and body. Have the butter fridge-cold and keep the heat moderate — too high and it will split rather than emulsify. I don’t normally use butter in pasta, but for pine mushrooms it’s worth it.

Rest the pasta dough for the full 30 minutes. The gluten needs time to relax or the rolled sheets will spring back to fight and annoy you.

Leftover chicken jus freezes beautifully in ice cube trays. A cube or two is a powerful addition to any pan sauce.