Name: Vellutata di Funghi Cardoncelli (Mushrooms with cannellini bean purée and rice)
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 200 g cardoncelli (or oyster mushrooms), cleaned and sliced if large; 1 onion, finely sliced; salt and pepper; 200 g dried cannellini beans, soaked in cold water overnight; 8 tbsp olive oil; 1 thick slice of Parma ham (with fat) or pancetta, about 100 g; 2 garlic cloves, chopped; 80 g mature pecorino cheese, freshly grated; 200 g risotto rice

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Antonio Carluccio's Italia

By Antonio Carluccio

Published 2005

About

A curious recipe from Basilicata, where all the ingredients are produced locally, except the rice. Cardoncelli belong to the same family as oyster mushrooms. They grow wild in the south of Italy, but they are also cultivated.

Ingredients

200 g dried cannellini beans, soaked in cold water overnight
8 tbsp olive oil

Method

Drain the soaked beans. Heat half the olive oil in a pan and fry the garlic with the ham or pancetta for a few minutes. Add the cannellini beans and enough water to cover generously, then cook for a couple of hours until soft.

Remove the ham or pancetta from the beans. Purée the cannellini beans with some of the cooking liquor in a blender or food processor to a pulp. Transfer to a bowl