Damn Good Mushroom Sauce - For Pasta

Time for a foodie blog. This is the best mushroom-based sauce of those I make. It’s a Fall recipe because that’s when you’re most likely to find fresh wild mushrooms (and, no, I don’t gather my own — I wouldn’t eat any mushroom I picked!).

It’s hard to call any mushroom sauce original because no matter what you think you’ve come up with someone else almost certainly has as well — and before you. I like to think this one is mine … but wouldn’t want to have to argue that in court. Recipe below makes two good-sized servings.

Use 12 inch stainless steel pan. It works better than non-stick.

•3 strips of bacon — Ayrshire is perfect for this recipe if you can find it. If not, use regular.

•1 pound wild mushrooms — chanterelles, porcinis, morels, shitakes all go well. Toss in a couple of regular criminis or the dish starts getting expensive! Coarse chop. If you can’t find fresh mushrooms, use dried. Rehydrate in hot water or broth (veggie or chicken). Strain and save the soaking liquid.

•2 T butter

•1 T olive oil

•2 cloves garlic, mashed and chopped

•2 scallions, sliced thin

•2 T shallots, chopped

•2 T flour

•1/2 c white wine (or mix of wine and soaking liquid)

•1/2 c (or more) cream

•1/2 lb pasta — pappardelle is best. It’s broad and has the right texture for the sauce. Linguini or fettucini will work.

Fry bacon — if Ayrshire add a t of vegetable oil and use medium heat. It won’t crisp up like regular bacon. Set aside and cut up into small pieces. Pour off fat.

Melt butter, add oil and sauté mushrooms — use fairly high heat here, you want to get a lightly caramelized quality on the ‘shrooms. Cook for about 3 or 4 minutes, stirring when needed.

Add garlic, scallions and shallots — cook another minute or so

Dust with flour — continue cooking another minute or so

Deglaze with wine/soaking liquid — cook another minute or so as sauce thickens

Add 1/2 c of the cream and cook another minute or two. You may need more cream depending on how thick the sauce is

Salt and pepper to taste

Add to cooked pasta and garnish with the chopped bacon bits

Sauce takes about as long to prepare as the pasta does to cook so try to time it right.