Sformato.Ciambella di Tagliatelle ai Funghi e Zafferano (Baked Tagliatelle, Mushroom and Saffron Ring)

Ciambella di tagliatelle ai Funghi e Zafferano (Baked Tagliatelle, Mushroom and Saffron Ring)  Don't be put off by the name of today's dish, as it's really easy and quite quick to prepare and very... very delicious!

I would like to say that this is one of my mamma's recipes, but it isn't.

My mother wouldn't have known what to do with saffron, as it is an ingredient mainly used in Northern Italy, in risotto dishes. Our food, in Southern Italy, tends to be light and fresh. My tagliatelle, on the contrary, is quite rich, but deliciously so! I love the taste of saffron and, I must admit: bright yellow food cheers me up.

I found the sauce recipe in one of my Italian magazines a few years ago and I thought it would bind my tagliatelle together very nicely, with some cheese, as I wanted to make a baked pasta ring, a kind of deliciously savoury "Ciambella" lovely to be eaten for supper, or sliced, an ideal dish for a party! It would go well with some chilled dry wine!

Here is my recipe:

Ciambella di Tagliatelle ai Funghi e Zafferano

(Baked Tagliatelle, Mushroom and Saffron Ring)

Ingredients

(serves 4-5)

For the sauce:

1 tsp butter

8 tbs olive oil

1 onion

1 leek

500 g ( 1 lb, 1 oz) brown mushrooms

1 tbs plain flour

1 vegetable stock cube

500 ml (1pt, 1 fl oz)  hot water

2 generous pinches saffron

1 small cup milk

1 tbs passata

400 g (just under 1 lb) tagliatelle

100 g ((3 1/2 oz) Fontina Cheese

or

grated Cheddar

Preheat oven (200C, 400F, Gas 6)

Before you start, prepare your vegetables: peel and chop your onion, wash your leek very carefully and cut into chunks. Don't peel your mushrooms: just wash and slice or cut them into wedges. Boil some water (about 500 ml- about 1 pt) You can do this in a kettle. 

Having done this, put your butter and onion in a deep saucepan. When hot, add your onion and leek.Stir and combine these ingredients, until they turn a nice, golden colour. You are now ready to add all your lovely brown mushrooms!

While your mushrooms are cooking and turning a translucent, shiny colour, measure your hot water: you need about 500 mls. Add a stock cube and  your saffron to the hot water, which will, after two or three minutes, turn a very bright shade of  orange.

.

While your stock is standing, take two tablespoons of flour and add to the pan. Mix and take off the heat. Now, you can start adding your passata and, gradually, the stock and saffron. You should get a beautiful silky-shiny sauce, bright yellow, almost orange in colour. Again, mix these ingredients and finally, add your small cup of milk. Taste for salt, add some black pepper, if you like and... your sauce is made!

Cook your tagliatelle really "Al dente." Remember that the water needs to be boiling, before you can add your pasta or you'll be eating glue!

While your pasta is cooking, coat a ciambella ring (or a normal, round oven dish, if you don't have a ring shaped tin) with butter and then breadcrumbs.

Drain your tagliatelle and place into a bowl.  Pour two thirds of the sauce over your pasta, mix, making sure you have enough sauce, then add two generous handfuls of Parmesan cheese and  100 g Fontina cheese, cut into very small cubes, or grated Cheddar cheese, if you can't easily get hold of Fontina. Mix, arrange round the tin, pressing down as you go along, then bake in a hot oven (200C, 400F, Gas 6) until you get a soft crust.

This will take between 20 and 30 minutes. Take your dish out of the oven, let it cool for ten minutes, then turn it out, onto a plate, or wooden board.

Serve cut into thick slices, with some of the reserved sauce. found that rucola (rocket) is a good accompaniment, as it adds a pleasant element of spicy, hot, crunchiness. 

My "Ciambella" is lovely eaten cold, with salad. I think that cut into thinnish slices, even cold, it would make a delicious addition to a party buffet.