Tag Archives: mushrooms

Mushroom Sage Pasta

I’ve been making this recipe for 5 years, since I was first married. I absolutely adore mushrooms, and will be posting another mushroom-alicious recipe very, very soon. This dish is great for large groups of people. I made it for our Bloomington Bible study back in the day, for my in-laws, for my own birthday one year, and for Family Vacay 2009, along with a salad. When I made it for family vacation, the grocery store up North was plumb out of mascarpone, so I substituted cream cheese and it was still delicious. It’s easy and rich, creamy and delightful–a total comfort food.

When I made it a few weeks ago in preparation for this blog post, my husband said:

“You know what would make this perfect?”

“What?” I asked, nervously thinking I had overseasoned, underseasoned, or maybe could have used a little more chopped sage, or salted the mushrooms more when I first put them in . . .

“Bacon,” he said.

So take note–please add chopped fried bacon bits for maximum man-satisfaction.

Ingredients

(Serves 5)

1 1/2 c dry mushrooms (porcini or shiitake)

1 1/4 c warm water

2 TBS butter

1 TBS oil

1 yellow onion, chopped

6 garlic cloves, minced

16 oz sliced white mushrooms

2 TBS chopped sage leaves, plus more for garnish

1 c dry white wine

8 oz mascarpone

5 oz (1 cup) crumbled gorgonzola

2 tsp cornstarch + 1 TBS water

12 oz dried pasta

Optional: diced fried bacon

Soak dried mushrooms 20-30 minutes in the 1 1/4 cups of warm water. I used shiitake mushrooms that I buy in large, cheap bags at the Asian grocery store:

I’ve had this stash of mushrooms for years. In my opinion, they can only be gaining flavor with age. Right? Right.

Don’t fear the wrinkly little dry guys. After a good long soak, they become plump and moist:

At this point, grab the rest of the ingredients. Chop the onion, garlic, and sage. Everything must be ready.

The mascarpone and gorgonzola–I could eat them both by the spoonful, people.

Isn’t the sage be-yewtiful? It’s such a soft and yet vibrant color. I love taking a chomp out of a leaf or two–bitter, but somehow refreshing.

Remove the soaking mushrooms from the liquid and squeeze them out–but save the soaking liquid! It’s important because it will add incredible flavor to the pasta. Chop the soaked mushrooms up nice and fine.

They need a little more chopping . . .

Zer ve go.

Put the pasta water on to boil, and salt it liberally.

Heat the oil and butter together over medium-high until the butter is melted. Add the onion and diced (previously dried) mushrooms.

Cook for about 8 minutes. Lovely flavorful brown bits will start to form at the bottom of the pot.

Add the fresh mushrooms . . .

And the garlic! We can’t be forgetting that.

Add the sage, and then salt generously. Sprinkle in copious amounts of black pepper as well. It’s important to season well at this stage so that the button mushrooms absorb some flavor and release their liquid. Check out the grains of salt in motion:

Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

By now, your pasta water probably came to a boil, and your pasta should be cookin’ away.

Once those 5 minutes have passed, it will look something like this:

Pure heaven!!!

Add the white wine . . .

And now add the soaking liquid from the dried mushrooms. Yes, it looks like dirty water, but don’t let that deter you. It contains the magic of the forest.

Turn the heat to medium-low and simmer gently for 5 minutes.

Your pasta should be getting really close by now. Check in on it every now and then. If you’re adding in bacon, that should be cooking in a separate pan at this point as well.

Turn the heat on the mushrooms to low, and stir in both the cheeses, the mascarpone:

. . . and the gorgonzola.

Taste and re-season. My sauce is usually a little thin at this point, so mix the cornstarch and water slurry into the pot to thicken it.

Drain the pasta and slosh it into the pot with the rest of the good stuff.

Stir until it’s incorporated, and serve! Garnish with whole sage leaves or some more chopped sage.

Click here for printer-friendly version: Mushroom Sage Pasta

Garlicky Stuffed Portobellos

Today, a brief and culinary pause in the Erica/Dave wedding story–but be back tomorrow for all the pictures of the bride getting dressed. All very decent, I assure you.

I recently experienced a cooking failure making stuffed portobellos. I oversalted them, and there was wa-ay too much garlic–can you believe it? I never thought I’d use the phrase “too much garlic”, but considering I woke myself up at 2am due to my own overpowering garlic breath, it seems appropriate. These are the culprits:

They look so innocent . . . even delicious. But you’ll have to take my word for it: they were not.

“If you don’t succeed, try, try again” I whispered to myself as I walked to the El to catch the train to work. “If you don’t succeed, try, try again,” I murmured as I transferred to the Belmont bus. “If you don’t succeed . . .”–but you get the idea.

After all this self-motivation business, I dug in and determined to give it another try. I sat before my computer screen and fantasized about taking a bite of the fabulous, meaty mushroom that we’ve all come to love: what flavors did I want in my mouth? Garlic, definitely . . . a little wine . . . some mozzarella . . . something meaty, something red . . . and thus this recipe was born. I typed it up and tested it on my parents when they popped down to Chicago for a visit. I bring you the results. You will love them.

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

5 Portobello mushrooms, wiped clean

1 TBS olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 pre-cooked bratwursts, chopped

3-4 slices fresh mozzarella, torn

1 roasted red pepper, torn

5 TBS white wine

10 tsp heavy cream

5 dashes salt

5 dashes black pepper

First I should explain–I used 5 mushrooms, but put “serves 4” because there’s always someone who wants a little more. Technically though, you could do 1 mushroom per person. That is, if you’re a mushroom miser.

Let’s begin: heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Remove the stems from the Portobellos, chop the stems, and set them aside. Chop your brats as well. I found these brats next to the hot dogs–they’re precooked, which saves some time. And they’re reeeaal good.

Lay the Portobello caps on a baking sheet, rounded side down. Mix the olive oil and minced garlic, spread it over the portobellos with a pastry brush, and sprinkle them with a little salt and pepper.

Pour 1 TBS wine and 2 tsp cream in each mushroom cap.

Heat a pan over medium-high and add the chopped bratwursts and chopped mushroom stems. Cook 7-8 minutes or until browned. They will start out looking pale and sickly:

. . . but with my dad’s tender care . . .

. . . they browned quite nicely. Good job, Dad.

Now let’s grab the fun stuff:

Tear the mozzarella slices and roasted red pepper, and lay the pieces in each mushroom.

Top with the bratwurst/mushroom stem mixture.

Put the whole shebang in your 400 degree oven for 12 minutes, then serve ’em up. Mmmm . . .

Serve with Tangy Lemon Spinach (recipe coming soon) and white rice.

Lessons learned from initial failure and subsequent success:

  1. Do not oversalt. Do not oversalt. You can always add salt, but once it’s in there it’s too late. Record yourself saying this on a looped track and play it as you sleep for maximum absorption.
  2. Experimentation will not always result in astounding success.
  3. Experimentation will inevitably result in astounding success when white wine and cream are involved.

Click here for printer-friendly version: Garlicky Stuffed Portobellos