Wild Mushroom Cream Pasta

Disclaimer: I’m out of cooking sherry and white wine so Armagnac tagged in.

As the growing and foraging season gets underway, I’m looking to clear stuff out from my fridge and pantry. A young chicken of the woods has been sitting in the freezer all winter long, the last flush this past fall from a tree on the edge of my yard. I’m lucky in that I can keep an eye on any COTW that develop because I prefer them as young as possible—they are meaty and less like long strands of fiber on chicken breast and very much like a tender roast beef. I am a big fan of quality over quantity. I also still had half a package of portobello mushrooms, some dried trumpets, although it’s a pity that I did not have any more chants, winecaps, or boletes as they had made their way into our meals sometime last year.

If you froze your COTW, a quick defrost and then squeezing out as much of the liquid as possible will help it pull in flavor and not water down your sauce. You don’t technically have to use wild mushrooms, store bought buttons and oyster work too.

My rows of thyme are doing quite well for themselves and lend itself as a fine herb to this dish.

Ingredients

• 1 cups chopped mushrooms (oyster, maitake, button, chicken of the woods, portobello, boletes, black trumpets, winecaps, chanterelles, morels, shiitake, or any mixture thereof.)
• 2 servings of pasta
• Water, for pasta
• Salt, generously for pasta water and to taste
• Pepper, to taste
• 1 pinch Thyme
• 2 tablespoons minced shallots or red onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons armagnac, white wine, sherry, or marsala
• 1 cup cream (or half and half, if you prefer lighter)
• 1 tablespoon grated pecorino romano or parmesan
• Parsley, for garnish

1. Generously salt the pasta water and cook pasta according to direction. Drain and reserve 1/2 cup pasta water for the sauce.
2. Sauté garlic, thyme, and shallots/onion in butter over medium high heat, being careful not to burn. Add mushrooms and continue to cook, until the mushrooms have released their moisture, about 5 minutes.
3. Add your choice of alcohol and cook until the alcohol has evaporated.
4. Add cream, pasta water, and pasta and toss to coat evenly. Add cheese and mix well. Add pepper to taste.
5. Plate and garnish with parsley. Sauce will tighten as it cools, you can add more pasta water if you wish for it to be more runny.