Chicken with Dried Mushrooms & Tomatoes

When it comes time to figure out what to make for dinner, I love the internet as much as anyone. I usually head straight to the NY Times Cooking section, or to Epicurious, Saveur or Food 52 for ideas and inspiration. But one weekend this past year, with our Philly travel plans cancelled by an upcoming storm (there is nothing worse than the Jersey turnpike in a thunderstorm with tornado and flood warnings), I had the unexpected luxury of free time on a Saturday morning. Sitting with a cup of coffee, I opened Biba’s Taste of Italy, a cookbook whose spine I had yet to crack in the year since it had been gifted to me by my husband, to see what I might make for dinner that evening.

Written by the late Sacramento-based restaurateur and chef Biba Caggiano, Biba’s Taste of Italy is an homage to the cuisine of Emilia Romagna, the region of Italy where Biba grew up, and where much of her family still lives. Emilia Romagna straddles Italy just north of Tuscany, and includes the cities of Bologna, Modena and Parma. Stanley Tucci visited the prosperous region in his episode on Bologna, and describes it as “a lush land of fertile river valleys stuffed with livestock and billowing with soft wheat”. It also is home to some of Italy’s finest chefs and most amazing cuisine.

In this region, porcini mushrooms grow in abundance in the wooded forests between Bologna and Modena, and most famously in the area around Borgotaro, home of the Sagra del Fungo, or annual porcini mushroom festival. Porcini from this area have been given the prestigious PGI designation as a national treasure, and have been described as having “a woody aroma and a clean smell recalling hazelnuts, liquorice or newly cut wood”, with “no trace of that smell of hay which often defines less valuable mushrooms”.

As Bibi tells us, porcini in Emilia Romagna are used fresh in the spring and fall, and at other times dried. Dried porcini are not considered a substitute for fresh, but an ingredient all their own, as is the broth that results from their re-hydration. In the kitchen, they often serve a supporting role to enrich pasta sauces and enhance meat, vegetable and risotto dishes. In the recipe I chose to make that evening, the dried mushrooms share the spotlight with the tomatoes in a rich, woodsy flavored sauce for a braised chicken.

Now, after all that, I have a confession to make. I did not use dried PGI porcini from Emilia Romagna in this recipe. My dried mushrooms were from the New Hampshire Mushroom Company, gifted to me by one of my sisters, who had recently visited the place.

I also have to admit I was both curious and a little scared of the sauce in this recipe, which uses only five ingredients – tomatoes, dried porcini, garlic, white wine and rosemary. It just seemed too simple, and I could not imagine using only the dried mushrooms in a sauce like this. I was tempted to add some fresh mushrooms and maybe some onion and pancetta. None of which would have hurt, but I am so glad I kept the recipe as simple as it is. Because this dish in delicious. And even better the second day, or as Biba says, “It benefits from being prepared several hours ahead and reheated gently just before serving”. Which, come to think of it, makes it a great make-ahead entree to serve to company.

We served ours with potatoes, but next time I’ll serve it atop polenta.

And get me some genuine PGI Porcini.

Here’s to free Saturdays!

Where to get PGI Porcini

Dried porcini from La Bottega del Fungo, a family run operation in Borgotaro.