Wild Mushroom Pasta
I love mushrooms. All kinds of them.
The large Portobello's to me are just as satisfying as a thick juicy steak. The baby bella's are just as flavorful and because of their dense texture they golden so perfectly and add amazing color to many of your Italian Pasta Recipes.
Oyster mushrooms are unique in texture, color and shape. Named because of it's resemblance in flavor to oysters which I love, love, love! This sweet and velvety variety gives a creative look in addition to the light and airy cashew taste.
And then there is the Porcini mushroom. This is the ambrosia of mushrooms and is deeper and richer in flavor then most mushrooms. Mostly found in a dried form but believe me the broth in which you soak these funghi is more valuable then gold to your vegetable pasta recipes.
Of course there are over 2000 varieties of wild mushrooms, some are not edible of course but you can create a bounty of flavor of the ones that are in any assortment you choose. For this mushroom pasta recipe, I've chosen my favorites above because nothing makes me happier then the perfect eclectic bite and this pasta just does it for me!
Wild Mushroom Pasta Ingredients:
1lb Fresh Baby Bella Mushrooms sliced
1lb Fresh Oyster mushrooms broken apart
8oz Dried Porcini Mushrooms soaked in cup very hot water for 1 hour
4 cloves of Garlic crushed
1 large shallot minced very finely
1 cup white wine
3 tbsp all purpose flour
1 cup chicken stock
3 tbsp butter
Wild Mushroom Pasta Preparation:
Everybody knows how much I love my Olive Oil but bottom line is mushrooms brown way better in butter. So
Melt one table spoon of butter into a saute pan and brown the baby bella mushrooms first and set aside. Then add another table spoon of butter to the same pan and saute and brown the oyster mushrooms and set them aside.
Since mushrooms are like sponges when it comes to sauting you should add a third tablespoon of butter and melt before you toss in the very thinly sliced shallots and crushed garlic. Heat on medium until translucent and splash with a little of the white wine if necessary.
Separate the porcini mushrooms from the water. Mix the porcini mushrooms into the pan and set the porcini water aside to use later. Turn heat up to medium high and pour in the white wine and chicken stock and simmer for about 5 minutes to let the flavors blend together.
Pour in the rich porcini flavored water to the mixture and bring to a steady boil. Have the whisk handy as you add the 3 tablespoons of flour, one at a time, whisking into the mixture.