--- title: "Creamy biltong and mushroom pasta with coriander" description: "Combine the traditional flavours that go with biltong, including coriander, with the happy marriage of mushrooms, cream and black pepper, for a pasta sauce that is one part Italian and another part South African." type: "NewsArticle" publisher: "Daily Maverick" site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za" section: "WHAT’S COOKING" author: "Tony Jackman" author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/tonyjackman/" canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-08-18-creamy-biltong-and-mushroom-pasta-with-coriander/" published: "2026-08-18T11:00:18" updated: "2026-08-18T12:11:36" lang: "en-ZA" word_count: 631 --- # Creamy biltong and mushroom pasta with coriander > Combine the traditional flavours that go with biltong, including coriander, with the happy marriage of mushrooms, cream and black pepper, for a pasta sauce that is one part Italian and another part South African. By Tony Jackman · Published 18 August 2026, 13:00 SAST · Updated 18 August 2026, 14:11 SAST ## Key points - Tony Jackman blends biltong spices (coriander seed, lots of black pepper) with mushrooms, cream and white wine for an Italian-Karoo pasta mash‑up. - Key tip: use soft, super‑thin “raspered” biltong from delis or Karoo butchers – avoid vacuum‑packed hard biltong and dusty biltong crumbs. - Method in short: sauté onion, garlic and mushrooms, reduce white wine, add cream, ground coriander, shaved biltong and parmesan, then toss with al dente pasta. - Feeds 2-4; finish with fresh coriander and extra parmesan. ## Content Soft biltong, pink in the middle – I suppose we could call it medium rare even though it hasn’t been cooked – is best for a pasta sauce. And there’s no reason why biltong should not make its way into a pasta recipe. The biltong sold in pre-packaged vacuum packs is generally not suited to a pasta sauce. It tends to be firm, “hard” biltong, and that’s not what you need. And though some biltong pasta recipes call for biltong “dust”, I think this is a terrible choice. It’s grainy by nature, and your sauce will be too. The best route when sourcing biltong for pasta is to find a good biltong speciality shop, one of those delis that have sprung up in South African shopping centres. Or, do as I do – when passing through a Karoo town, find the local butcher, or the best one, and ask them if they make their own biltong. Ask them to “rasper” their softest (and biggest) *stukkie* of biltong for you, super thinly. That’s the biltong you need for your pasta sauce. I used a teaspoon of finely ground coriander in this pasta sauce, which is highly unusual. We don’t spice our pastas, other than with pepper. But coriander seeds are a core ingredient in the curing and spicing of biltong, and it’s a tidy fit for this sauce’s flavour profile. I also had a relatively heavy hand with the black pepper, because I like the interplay between pepper and cream in a sauce (pepper steak isn’t popular for nothing). And I threw in a glass of dry white wine because that can only enhance a cream sauce. Because I wanted something green to garnish this dish, I chose coriander leaves, because it seemed the obvious choice given that the plant’s seed flavours the biltong anyway. ### **Tony’s creamy biltong and mushroom pasta** (Serves 2-4) **Ingredients** 2 Tbsp butter or olive oil 1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped 3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped 250g portobellini mushrooms, sliced 100ml dry white wine 200ml fresh cream 200g soft biltong 100g finely grated parmesan A handful of fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped Plenty of black pepper Salt 100g gnocchi pasta shells or other pasta of your choice 1 tsp finely ground coriander More grated parmesan for garnish **Method** Peel and chop the onion and garlic. Slice the mushrooms. Melt some butter or heat some olive oil in a saucepan. Add the onion and cook on a lowish heat, stirring, for 3 or 4 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the sliced mushrooms and cook, stirring, until they have released all their juices. Cook these away until the mushrooms are wet, rather than swimming in liquid. Add the wine, turn the heat up and reduce by about a third. Season to taste with the ground coriander, salt and plenty of ground black pepper. Add the cream and, when it starts bubbling, reduce the heat to a simmer and let it cook for a few minutes for the flavours in the sauce to develop. Add the shaved biltong and cook for 2 or 3 minutes more. Stir in about 100g of finely grated parmesan. Meanwhile, cook the pasta till al dente, and drain. Toss the pasta through the sauce and serve, garnished with fresh coriander leaves and grated parmesan. **DM** ![Signed and delivered — contact Tony on the link below to order a gold-signed copy.](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/Zu8KfBMjFzJqbW2iQNLEA6-dq2o=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/2996/RetroKarooFoodSocialMediaCard_940x788_2_390547.jpg) *To buy a copy of Tony Jackman’s Retro Karoo Food (Penguin Random House) signed by the author in gold, send an email to him at*[*tony@dailymaverick.co.za*](mailto:tony@dailymaverick.co.za) *Or buy it through the*[*Daily Maverick shop*](https://shop.dailymaverick.co.za/product/retro-karoo-food-80-nostalgic-south-african-recipes/)*.* *Tony Jackman is twice winner of the Galliova Food Writer of the Year award.* *Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram*[*@tony\_jackman\_cooks*](https://www.instagram.com/tony_jackman_cooks/)*.*