Pappardelle With Wild Mushrooms

Medically reviewed by Christiana George Updated Date: June 8, 2023

With Thanksgiving over, I’ve switched to Winter Mode.

Winter Mode consists of uplifting meals whose main ingredients might include any or all of the following: pasta and/or noodles, cheese, butter, cream, and excessive liquid. Bacon makes a recurring appearance. As does chocolate. My preferred mode of cooking becomes baking. Or boiling. Boiling noodles, that is.

Of course, because our radiator goes on overdrive each and every night, we’re met with a rather bewildering dinnertime situation. To set the scene: we’re minimally dressed. No socks, no sweaters. We’re wearing t-shirts, shorts even. The window’s open—god, can we get some snow in here or something? (Just kidding, but I can’t wait!) While we eat, pools of sweat build up on our foreheads, right by our hairlines. (Why do I bother washing my hair?) My armpits start feeling damp, I’m blowing like crazy on each bite to cool it down.

It’s contradictory-feeling, the heat, and confuses my body greatly. I’m craving fats and proteins, but responding to the stuff adversely once I get it.

But it’s alright. There’s ice cream in the freezer, the perfect after-dinner aid. Armed with a heaping bowl each, we can dangle our feet on our fire escape and contemplate the following day.

To counter the richness, there are mushrooms.

In my estimation, mushrooms are the perfect stand-in for meat. They’re portly and satisfying, with their own irresistible flavors to boot. Plus, they’re not bad on the eyes. (Can tofu boast such a quality? I think not.)

I like shiitake mushrooms the best, but I like mixing them even more. This wild mushroom pasta serves them up simply, with a liberal sprinkling of parmesan cheese and parsley. I think the trick is to not overdo it on the pappardelle, which has the tendency to dry out the dish. While the original recipe called for an approximate one-to-one ratio of pasta and mushrooms, I would halve the heavy (albeit delicious) pappardelle and even increase the amount of mushrooms just a tad.

That way, you’ll really taste the garlicky mushrooms but get to savor the luscious pappardelle as well.

My body can cope with that.

PAPPARDELLE WITH WILD MUSHROOMS

Adapted from The Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver

Serves 2

Ingredients:

12 oz. mixed mushrooms
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
Dried red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper to taste
juice of 1/2 lemon
up to 8 oz. pappardelle
1/2 stick (2 ounces) unsalted butter
a small handful of grated Parmesan cheese
a handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Directions:

Brush off dirt from the mushrooms and slice thinly. In a very hot frying pan, add the olive oil, then the mushrooms. Let them fry fast, tossing once or twice, then add the garlic and red pepper flakes with a pinch of salt (season lightly, Jamie instructs, as a little really brings out the flavor). Continue to fry fast for 4 to 5 minutes, tossing regularly. Then turn the heat off and squeeze in the lemon juice. Toss and season to taste.

Meanwhile cook the pasta in boiling salted water until al dente. Add to the mushrooms, with the parmesan, parsley and butter. Toss gently, coating the pasta with the mushrooms and their flavor. Serve, scraping out all of the last bits of mushroom from the pan, and sprinkle with a little extra parsley and Parmesan.

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Little Brown Bettys, Pockets of Fall

Dessert

Christiana George

Updated Date:
January 7, 2026

Summer absconded in the night.

And it’s now officially autumn. I know it’s official because I can bear wearing long pants again, and the hot coffee drinks look awfully tempting on cafe menus. It’s official because we just piled the comforter back on the bed and the white shaggy rug has been restored to its rightful place in the living room.

Do you know what this is like for a born-and-bred Californian? For TWO born-and-bred Californians, for Chris not only grew up in California, he grew up in Southern California, even more infamously unvaried. How can I possibly begin to describe the strangeness of this change we’re undergoing? Is this normal? Is this how it usually goes?

“Yup,” everyone tells me. “This is how it usually goes.”

Okay, okay, so I’ll calm down and just roll with it. Even though I’m actually terrified inside of what the rest of the year has in store for me, Winter Neophyte that I am. Us coastal Californians, we live so obliviously of the weather.

Now what is a brown betty, you ask? Good question.

It’s an ADORABLE dessert, a cousin of the cobbler and the crumble and the crisp even, one of those utterly, classically American baked things that I’d never heard of before. Actually, I may have read about them once, and laughed at the utter simplicity of the recipe.

And while you can fill them with any of your favorite fruits, it’s fall, which means apples. Apples and brown sugar and cinnamon. Mmmm. The smell that wafted into the living room inadvertently got me thinking about Thanksgiving… and DAMN, plane tickets are expensive.

LITTLE BROWN BETTYS

Adapted (not really) from Gourmet
Serves 6

Ingredients:

6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp granulated sugar
6 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed
2 medium apples (I used a honeycrisp and a macoun)
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup panko

whipped cream or plain yogurt (if you want to call it breakfast, as I did this morning)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter six muffin cups with some of the melted butter. Sprinkle granulated sugar among the cups.

With a rolling pin, roll the bread into flat pieces. Brush both sides with more of the melted butter, and gently place into muffin cups.

Peel and slice the apples into 1/2-inch pieces. Stir together with brown sugar and cinnamon, and toss to coat. Stir in the panko and remaining butter. Divide the apple mixture among the six cups (they will probably be heaping, but just cram them in)

Cover pan with foil and bake 30 minutes. Uncover pan and bake another 20 minutes, until the apples are tender. Let cool for a few minutes before removing from pan.