Recipe by Craig Rogan, Executive Chef of Dakota Leeds

Serves 4 

A dish I’ll always remember cooking and eating is a wild mushroom pasta that I helped the garnish chef make for staff tea (I think I only stirred it a couple of times, but I thought I was helping) whilst working in one of my dad’s restaurants at the age of 16. I just remember being stood outside watching the river flow past the back of the restaurant, thinking ‘wow, I actually like mushrooms’.

A dish using mushrooms and pasta has always been on a menu of mine in some form, and for this recipe I’m using spätzle, a pasta/dumpling. It’s simple to make and the spätzle will last 3-4 days in the fridge if you don’t use it all. 

Ingredients

For the Spätzle

900g T55 flour

3 eggs 

2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley 

Water (enough for it to be a wet dough consistency)

(Makes 10 portions so save some for another day)

For the sauce

500g woodland mushrooms

200ml concentrated mushroom stock

400ml double cream 

150g grated Parmesan cheese 

200g diced smoked pancetta 

1 good handful of spinach 

Method

First make the spätzle – 

Place a pan of water onto boil and lightly season.

Mix all ingredients well, ensuring there are no lumps of flour. Place a slotted tray (I use a pizza tray) over the pan of boiling water and pour the mixture onto the tray gently scraping over the holes so the mixture drops into the water in the form of small dumplings. Boil until floating, and then remove from the boiling water into a bowl of ice water to stop further cooking. Leave to one side until later. 

For the pancetta – first place onto a tray and cook in the oven at 180’C for around 15 minutes. Pancetta should be a dark red colour and slightly crispy. Place pancetta into a tub also keeping the fat. 

Bringing the dish together – 

Place a pan on the heat and allow to get hot. Place pancetta and it’s fat into the pan, stirring frequently to stop the fat from burning. Add mushrooms and sauté until slightly coloured. 

Add mushroom stock and reduce by half, and then add spätzle and cream and reduce until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. Season well. When you remove the pan from the heat, add the spinach and allow heat to wilt the spinach in the sauce. Finishing with the Parmesan, mix well to fully incorporate. 

Place into a bowl and sprinkle with more grated Parmesan if you wish.