Mafalda Corta with pancetta, porcini and borlotti beans

There is something very comforting about this pasta recipe, and has become a new weekly favourite for me. It uses some of my some store cupboard favourites, including porcini mushrooms which I love for their earthy, rich flavour. This helps to add to the depth of flavour with the stock, and the Garofalo Pasta becomes silky with the sauce and the borlotti beans add another layer of texture and flavour.

This type of pasta, Malfada originates from Naples, and is more traditionally served with chick peas. It’s usually found as a longer ribbon shape with ruffled sides, but as the name corta suggests these shapes from Garofalo are shorter but with the same ruffled edge.

This recipe can also be adapted to be vegan.

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Mafalda Corta with pancetta, porcini and borlotti beans

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Servings: 2 people

Ingredients:

• 150g Garofalo Malfada Corta
• 1 stick of celery, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• ½ onion, finely chopped
• 200g borlotti beans
• 75 diced pancetta (optional)
• 15g porcini mushrooms, soaked and roughly chopped (keep the water)
• 200ml chicken or vegetable stock (homemade if you can but not essential)
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Hard cheese like parmesan for serving (optional)

Instructions:

1. Heat some olive oil in the pan and cook your pancetta on a medium heat for minutes.
2. Reduce the heat and add the onion, celery and carrot, season with a little salt and cook for about 7 minutes. Keep them moving in the pan until the vegetables are soft.
3. Add the already soaked porcini mushrooms and the reserved porcini mushroom water (be careful not to add the last gritty bit of water). If you want to add a splash of white wine too.
4. Allow to simmer before adding the borlotti beans and 100ml of warm stock.
5. Bring the pasta water to the boil and begin to cook the Garofalo Malfada Corta.
6. While the pasta is cooking add the remaining stock to the pan and allow to simmer.
7. Once the pasta is cooked al dente, drain and add to the pan. You could always grate in a little parmesan (or veggie alternative) at this stage.
8. Combine together and serve.

We’d love to see if you make any of my lockdown recipes with Garofalo. Tag @GarofaloPastaUK and @CookingCarafes and we’ll share them.

This is part of a paid for collaboration with Pasta Garofalo.