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Fettuccine With Mushrooms and Clove Pinks

Photo Credit
Becky Luigart-Stayner
The Editors
Yield
6 servings
Category
Pasta
Course
Main Dish
Preparation Method
Cook
Sources
The Old Farmer's Almanac Garden-Fresh Cookbook
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This tasty dish adds color and spice with edible flowers!

Clove pink flowers (Dianthus caryophyllus) are small carnation-like flower that grows easily in most climates. The petals not only add beauty to salads and pastas, but also have along history as a medicinal herb, relieving tension, gas, and heartburn. 

The flower has a bit of an aroma and spiciness to it. The key to using the flowers is to remove the white heel, which has a bitter flavor. Then sprinkle on your dish!

Ingredients
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 shallots, finely minced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
3/4 teaspoon chopped fresh marjoram or 1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 cup fresh clove pink petals, torn into small pieces
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 pound fettuccine
Parmesan cheese, for topping
Instructions

In a skillet over medium heat, warm butter and oil. Add shallots and cook for 1 minute. Add mushrooms and marjoram and cook, stirring, for 3 to 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, add clove pinks and parsley, and toss. Cover pan, turn heat to low, and keep mixture warm.

Cook fettuccine according to package directions. Drain and immediately add hot pasta to mushroom mixture, and toss well to coat. Add more butter or olive oil, if desired. Top with the Parmesan. Serve hot.

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The Old Farmer's Almanac Editors

We love introducing fun new recipes as well as time-tested recipes, straight from the archives! Read More from The Old Farmer's Almanac Editors
 

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Comments

Kenneth Rice (not verified)

13 years 9 months ago

Clove Pinks? What is that and where would one find it or them? Couldn't chopped parsley or basil work as well?

Clove pinks (also known as dianthus) have a spicy and mild clove flavor. We don't think replacing them with parsley or basil would give you quite the flavor you are looking for in this dish. They are easily grown at home or can be purchased at specialty stores.

i think you can get pinks from your florist by special order.. whole foods or fresh market.. greenhouse... maybe nastursiums could work, but not basil or parsley.. although you can surely use basil or parsley, its going to change the flavor. you might not even like pinks. its more like eating a carnation sprinkle. which our mothers told us don't eat out of the yard, unless she planted foods.