A few weeks ago, I reviewed the Toollio, an amazing multi-function food processor that really makes your life easier in the kitchen. I am very happy with it and, as promised, I am doing a little series on recipes developed using the Toollio to showcase its versatility. After making some hearty meatballs and a luscious cheesecake, today I will show you how useful the Toollio can be to make an amazing pasta sauce. I decided to call this dish Pappardelle alla Contadina (where Contadina means “Peasant style”) because it uses mostly ingredients that would be easily accessible to peasants in Italy. Even porcini mushrooms are not hard to come by in the Italian country side. I used the Toollio to thiny slice the carrots, which are the star of this sauce, and to grate some Parmigiano Reggiano to be generously sprinkled on top of the pasta. The Toollio saved me a lot of time! This recipe is hearty, creamy, fast to make and it tastes delicious. Yet another great weekday dinner idea made in a jiffy thanks to the Toollio! Enjoy and stay tuned for more recipes made using the Toollio!

Pappardelle alla Contadina
Pappardelle alla Contadina - a hearty, creamy and quick recipe for your midweek dinners.
Ingredients
- 1 small onion sliced
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 3 carrots thinly sliced
- 15 gms – ½ oz. dried porcini
- 1 cup hot water mixed with ¼ cup hot milk
- 150 ml – 2/3 cup red wine
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- 230 ml – 1 cup fresh cream
- 360 gms – 12.5 oz. pappardelle egg pasta
- Parmigiano Reggiano finely grated
Instructions
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Sauté the sliced onion in a saucepan with the extra virgin olive oil for a minute or 2, until soft and translucent.
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Add the thinly sliced carrots and stir.
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Add the red wine and cook, uncovered, on a slow flame until the wine evaporates.
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In the meantime, put the dried porcini mushrooms in a bowl with the hot water and milk and keep them there to soften for 10 minutes.
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Drain the porcini and filter the porcini liquid. Add both to the carrot and wine sauce and keep cooking until the carrots are soft and the liquid has almost evaporated. Season with salt and pepper and keep aside.
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Cook the pappardelle following the steps on How to cook pasta “al dente” in the Techniques page of this site, but drain it 1 minute before it is cooked as it will finish cooking together with the sauce. Put the drained pasta in a saucepan with the carrot and porcini sauce, add the cream and mix well while cooking it on a slow flame for 1 or 2 minutes.
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Serve immediately with some thinly grated Parmigiano Reggiano and ground pepper on the top.
This is a sponsored post, but the opinions and recipe in this post are my own.
I’m glad you’re giving that gadget a good workout. It’s a winner, I think. I wish I could afford one. 🙂
CARROTS!! I didn’t know what it was, it looked so fancy sliced up so thin I thought maybe it was truffles! YUM! This is a classic simple pasta made interesting just by slicing those carrots thinly. Thanks for sharing this!!