Spaghetti alla Chitarra recipe with mushroom cream sauce

Name: Spaghetti alla Chitarra recipe with mushroom cream sauce
Prep time: 70 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 90 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Switzerland
Ingredients: 285 g durum wheat semolina; 15 g beetroot powder; 135 g water | lukewarm; 1 small onion; 320 g brown mushrooms; 20 g butter; 20 g flour; 2 cloves garlic; 170 g heavy cream; 100 g white wine; 100 g vegetable broth

Autumnal Beetroot Spaghetti alla Chitarra

Autumn is pasta season! The days are getting shorter, the temperatures are dropping, and the desire for cosy evenings at home is growing. What could be better than treating yourself to a delicious pasta dish? Today we’d like to share a recipe with you that fits perfectly with the autumnal atmosphere: Spaghetti alla Chitarra with creamy mushroom sauce and beetroot. Let this dish enchant you and experience the magic of autumn in your kitchen!
To make this dish, we’ll naturally need Spaghetti alla Chitarra. This type of pasta, made from durum wheat semolina, is something quite special and gives the dish a rustic touch. Together with the creamy mushroom sauce, it creates a unique flavour combination that you’ll love
To give our pasta an even more autumnal feel, we’re also using beetroot powder. This natural food colouring gives our spaghetti a vibrant red colour and also lends it a distinctive flavour. The combination of the savoury mushrooms and the earthy, slightly sweet beetroot makes this dish a real taste sensation.
Spaghetti alla Chitarra is ready in no time at all, and the special production technique gives it a rough texture. It’s precisely this rough texture that makes this type of pasta so special, as it allows it to soak up the creamy sauce beautifully.

What are you waiting for? Tie on your apron, head into your kitchen and start cooking! You’ll be delighted by the combination of flavours and the interplay of textures in your mouth!

Key figures

Serves: 4

Difficulty: Easy

Shelflife: 3 days

Beetroot pasta dough

Durum wheat semolina		285 g
Beetroot powder		15 g
Water \| lukewarm		135 g

Mushroom cream sauce

Onion \| small		1
Mushrooms \| brown		320 g
Butter		20 g
Flour		20 g
garlic clove		2
Double cream		170 g
White wine		100 g
Vegetable stock		100 g
Parsley \| fresh		A little
Salt \| pepper \| nutmeg		to taste

Pasta Chitarra, Large

Ready-to-ship quantity: more than 20 pieces

CHF49.00

Beet powder 100 g

Ready-to-ship quantity: more than 20 pieces

CHF8.20

Pasta flour (durum wheat semolina), 1 kg

Ready-to-ship quantity: more than 20 pieces

CHF6.50

Production of durum wheat pasta

Put the durum wheat semolina and the beetroot powder into a bowl, then add the lukewarm water. Knead everything together roughly by hand until you have a slightly crumbly dough, then transfer it to your clean work surface. Now knead it thoroughly. The dough will feel quite firm at first. Once you’ve worked in all the crumbs, wrap the dough in cling film and leave it to rest at room temperature for 5–10 minutes. During this time, the dough will relax and you’ll find that it can then be easily worked into an elastic dough.

If the dough still feels crumbly after the resting time, you can moisten your hands with a little water and knead the dough again briefly. Durum wheat is a natural product and cannot always absorb the same amount of water.

Now divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Wrap 3 of them in cling film (the dough dries out quickly) and roll the other piece out into a thin sheet that is slightly shorter than your chitarra, but just as wide. You can either use a wooden rolling pin to roll it out, or pass the dough through a pasta machine.

Sprinkle a generous amount of durum wheat semolina over the surface of the dough and place it, with this side facing down, onto the wire. Now roll the wooden stick over it, applying light pressure until the individual strands of spaghetti fall off. Repeat this process until all the dough has been used up.

Sprinkle the pasta you’ve made with even more semolina and shape it into nests until you’re ready to use it.

Making the mushroom cream sauce

Finely dice the onions and fry them in a pan with 1 tbsp olive oil until they become translucent. Finely chop the garlic as well and fry it briefly with the onions.

Now add the butter and turn down the heat. Once it has melted, add the flour and whisk until smooth.

Now pour in the double cream and continue stirring with the whisk to prevent lumps from forming. Then stir in the white wine and the vegetable stock.

Slice the mushrooms thinly and add them to the sauce. Simmer on a low heat for about 10 to 15 minutes, depending on how firm the mushrooms are. Then chop some fresh parsley and add this to the sauce towards the end of the cooking time. Finally, season to taste with salt, pepper and a little nutmeg.

Cook the fresh pasta in plenty of salted water until al dente.

Then add the cooked spaghetti alla chitarra to the pan with the sauce for a few moments and toss it in the sauce. Arrange on a nice plate and serve with fresh, chopped parsley.

Storage & Shelf life

The sauce will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can leave the cooked spaghetti to dry and store it for up to 3 months. However, once cooked, you should use up the pasta within 3 days at the latest.