Pasta in Mushroom Cream Sauce

Mushrooms are one of my favorite ingredients. The word 'mushroom' refers to the fleshy, fruiting body of many varieties of fungi. Personally, I have never met a fleshy, fruiting fungus body I didn't like.

I first fell in love with mushrooms during the many years when I was a vegetarian. The savory qualities of mushrooms give them an almost meaty flavor, and make them an ideal substitute for animal flesh in a dish.

Mushroom cream sauce is a dish that the Italians have perfected using the highly prized porcini. One day I hope to master this dish, but for now, I am using the humble white button mushroom. Fancy mushroom species aside, this pasta and sauce combo is still delish and definitely worth a try.

1 box pasta
20 large white mushrooms (sliced)
1 onion (chopped)
2 large cloves garlic (minced)
1 1/3 cups cream
1/2 cup chicken stock (or water with bouillon)
Olive oil
Salt
Parsley
Milk (as needed)



Saute the onion and garlic in olive oil until the onions are translucent. Add sliced mushrooms, some salt, and parsley and saute over medium heat until the mushrooms are soft. The mushrooms will release a lot of juices so there should be a nice pool of brown fluids in the pan. (At this point I'm pretty sure an Italian chef would add some white wine to the mix, let the alcohol cook off for a bit and then proceed as follows, but I am a little too poor to cook with wine at the moment, and I think this dish is fine without it). Add the cream and let everything simmer together. Add the chicken stock (or water with bouillon) and again let everything simmer. Add salt and parsley to taste. If the sauce becomes too thick, add some milk (or water) to thin it out, but then be sure to adjust the salt and chicken stock amounts to maintain a good flavor balance.

Prepare the pasta al dente and toss it with the sauce. Top with freshly ground black pepper and grated parmigiana or grana.

Buon appetito!

Cannellini, Mushroom, and Tuna Spaghetti

This dish was born from a combination of vegetables that, at first, did not seem to complement each other in an obvious way. But with the magic uniting power of olive oil and lemon, they came together in perfect harmony.

2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
10 large white mushrooms (sliced)
3 stalks celery (sliced into crescents)
Olive oil
1 lemon
Parsley
Salt
Pepper
1 can cannellini beans
1 small cucumber (cut into wedges)
1 can tuna in olive oil
Spaghetti

Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Cook garlic until it begins to brown. Add mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes or until mushrooms begin to reduce in size. Add celery, salt, parsley, and more olive oil. Cook for a few minutes. Squeeze the juice from half the lemon into the pan and stir. Let everything cook together until both the mushrooms and the celery are soft.

Next, drain the cannellini beans and add them to the vegetable mixture. Squeeze the juice from the other half of the lemon over the mixture. Add salt, pepper, and more parsley as desired at this time. Take off the heat and toss the fresh cucumber wedges into the veggie mix.

Meanwhile, set a large pot of salted water with some oil added on high heat to boil. Once boiling, add spaghetti and cook until al dente.

Mix the tuna fish in olive oil into the pasta, being sure the break up chunks. Pour the vegetable mixture over the spaghetti and enjoy!