Penne with Pancetta and Mushroom White Sauce
My take on a classic Italian dish: Penne with pancetta, mushroom, and white sauce. It's a delicious and quick-to-make meal that's perfect for a weeknight dinner.
My take on a classic Italian dish: Penne with pancetta, mushroom, and white sauce. It's a delicious and quick-to-make meal that's perfect for a weeknight dinner.
- Carbohydrate 12.5626500110032 g
- Cholesterol 212.383125097346 mg
- Fat 69.8879812854233 g
- Fiber 1.14050002676681 g
- Protein 22.8673187673298 g
- Saturated Fat 33.1706600132974 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (301g)
- Sodium 2285.31125187613 mg
- Sugar 11.4221499842364 g
- Trans Fat 25.9964162706364 g
- Calories 756 calories
Step-by-step
- In a large skillet, combine butter, onion. Simmer until golden and add suger. When sugar is melted, add pancetta. When pancetta is done, add cream and broth. Add chopped mushroom and stir until reduced about half. Just before finishing, add lemon juice.
- Bring a pot of lightly salted water to boil, add pasta and cook until al dente. Drain.
- Toss pasta with sauce and serve with grated parmagiana cheese.
- Can also be topped with grilled salmon or chicken.
Replacing the heavy whipping cream with a lower-fat dairy alternative will drastically alter the sauce, often causing it to break when exposed to the acid from the lemon juice. Butter and chopped onions should cook together in a wide skillet until the onions turn translucent and develop golden edges, signaling that natural sugars have begun to caramelize. Achieving the right sauce consistency requires watching the liquid closely; stir the heavy cream, broth, mushrooms, and pancetta continuously until the volume reduces by half and coats the back of a spoon cleanly. When boiling the penne, test for doneness by biting a single piece, looking for a thin white starch ring at the very center that indicates the pasta is al dente. While this particular measurement yields two generous portions, scaling the ingredients up requires using a wider pan to ensure the mushrooms brown rather than steam in their own released moisture.
