Recipes excerpted from Thirty Minute Pasta by Giuliano Hazan. Published by Stewart, Tabori & Chang. New York, NY. Copyright 2009. Reprinted with permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.

I love the flavor of porcini together with shrimp. Dried porcini are used here to endow the cultivated mushrooms with some porcini flavor. I use this technique often in the States, where fresh porcini are hard to get, if not prohibitively expensive.

Click here for a printable version of the recipe.

Linguine with Shrimp and Porcini
Linguine ai Gamberi e Funghi

1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
1/2 medium yellow onion
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 pound white or cremini mushrooms
Salt
1/2 pound fresh tomatoes
3/4 pound large shrimp
Freshly ground black pepper
1 pound linguine
1/2 cup heavy cream

Serves 4.

1. Put the dried porcini in a bowl, cover with warm water and soak for 10 minutes.
   
   
2. Fill a pot for the pasta with about 6 quarts water, place over high heat, and bring to a boil.
   
   
3. Peel and finely slice the onion lengthwise. Put the olive oil in a 12-inch skillet, add the sliced onion, and place over medium-high heat. Sauté until the onion turns a rich golden color, 4 to 6 minutes. While the onion is sautéing, brush any dirt off the fresh mushrooms, then thinly slice them.
   
   
4. When the onion is ready, lift the porcini out of the water, squeezing the excess back into the bowl. Do not discard the porcini water. Coarsely chop the porcini, add them to the pan, and season lightly with salt. Strain the porcini water through a paper towel and add to the pan. Raise the heat to high and cook until almost all the liquid has evaporated.
   
   
5. While the liquid in the pan is evaporating, peel the tomatoes and coarsely chop them. Peel the shrimp, deveining if necessary, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces.
   
   
6. When most of the liquid in the pan has evaporated, lower the heat to medium-high, add the fresh mushrooms, and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the liquid the mushrooms release has evaporated completely.
   
   
7. Add about 2 tablespoons salt to the boiling pasta water, add the linguine, and stir until all the strands are submerged. Cook until al dente.
   
   
8. Add the tomatoes to the pan with the mushrooms, season lightly with salt, and cook until the liquid the tomatoes release has evaporated, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the heavy cream and the shrimp. When the cream has reduced by about one-third, and the shrimp have turned pink, 1 to 2 minutes, remove the pan from the heat.
   
9. When the pasta is done, drain well, toss with the sauce, and serve at once.