Porcini Ragu Pasta

Recipes are like life. You start out in one direction and wind up somewhere else...and along the road there are many twists and turns. A profound sentiment for a recipe perhaps, but true. I can't give you the instructions for this dish because it's being submitted to the BloggerAid cookbook so, instead, I decided to take you through the long and circuitous process of how a recipe finds life in this kitchen. It's a tricky route from idea to execution.

Over the past month a recipe/meal plan has been germinating in my head:

? It started with my friend, Carolyn, who sent me a tin of dried porcinis along with her mother's recipe for porcini sauce and a note saying "make something delish".

? Then Jenn at Foodie Blogroll announced the 3 challenge ingredients for this month: mushrooms, noodles, and cauliflower. An idea immediately sprung forth but I had to confirm that 'pasta' was considered 'noodles'. It was.

? So I started to think about a roasted garlic and cauliflower lasagna with a porcini sauce.

? Then I decided to heft it up and make a porcini ragu instead.

? Simultaneously, BloggerAid announced the fundraising plans for a cookbook.

? Ah, I thought, 2 birds with one stone.

? Alas, part of submitting for the cookbook is the stipulation that you post WITHOUT the recipe - the grand unveiling will be when the book is published.

? I gave up on entering the Royal Food Joust because I would have to post the recipe.

? Then, I thought, if I'm not wedded to using "cauliflower" anymore, how about using spinach or roasted peppers which are more colorful?

? And, instead of a traditional lasagna pan which is messy (and not too photogenic), why not do individual lasagna roll-ups and call them Florentine Lasagna Roll-ups?

? Yesterday, however, as I was shopping, I started to second guess the whole thing. Hmm, the ragu is a pretty heavy sauce and lasagna is a heavy pasta. It wasn't sitting right with me -- and it might not sit well in our bellies either. The roll-ups seemed to be calling for a lighter sauce.

? I was not about to give it up the porcini ragu so I purchased malfadine which is just the curly end of the lasagna and that satisfied the lasagna component of the recipe which was still rolling around in my head.

? Lastly, because the ricotta and mozzarella were in the house (and still on my mind), I made a fresh basil pesto with roasted garlic instead of raw and folded it into the cheese mixture which was served on the side for anyone who wanted a dollop -- and everyone did!

? And that, my friends, is how a recipe grows at Casa Nova, aka, FOODalogue.

This is a real "Sunday Sauce" because the longer it simmers on the stove, the better it gets. It's the kind of dish our Italian mothers and grandmothers would put up early Sunday morning for a late afternoon family dinner. The smells permeate the house and tease for hours. I wish we had Smell-a-blog because it's smelling really good around here!

Since I wanted to make this an all-day family affair, I decided we'd play games (Trivia Pursuit & Canasta) while the Ragu simmered on the stove. But, rather than tease with the smells, I prepared an antipasto type lunch to while away the time.

The BloggerAid cookbook will be available for sale in November/December and will feature food blogger recipes from all over the world. Submissions are not restricted to members of BloggerAid so join the fun.

A Culinary Tour Around the World will be posting a round-up on Wednesday and will be arriving in Germany on or about 1/26.