We turn now to Fall, and what better way to welcome it than to enjoy the mushrooms. What I love about this is the subtle flavour of this particular type of mushrooms. As a result, you need not choose methods that increase the flavour—ie, not browning the shallots…but staying with softer flavours. This same subtlety can be had with oyster mushrooms. But there is no reason not to try with chanterelles or others.
- 500 g pasta, spaghetti or linguine
- 2 shallots, minced fine
- 1 clove of garlic, minced fine
- 2-3 tbsps of fresh minced parsley
- 100 g of freshly grated parmigiano
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 1 pint of heavy cream
- 1 sprig of fresh thyme, petals removed from stalk
- ¼ cup of white vermouth
- ¼ stick of butter
- A very large handful of lions mane mushrooms…weight is hard to say with these as they are often quite “wet” and heavy…about 2 tennis balls worth
Sauté garlic and shallot in the olive oil over medium heat in a large heavy bottomed, non-reactive saucepan. Cook until translucent, but not coloured. Toss in the mushrooms and cook about 5 minutes, until they have released their liquid and the pan is beginning to dry. Stir all the while to prevent browning.
Pour in the vermouth and cook briefly to reduce, about 3 minutes or so. Pour in the cream and cook to reduce another 2-3 minutes. Add the thyme and stir in. Remove from the heat, adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper. Toss in most of the parmigiano and set aside.
Cook the pasta al dente in plenty of salted boiling water. Reserve one cup of the pasta water, drain, add the pasta to the sauce, toss to season, and add water as needed from the reserved pasta water, until the desired consistency and liquidity is achieved.
Dust with the remaining parmigiano and the parsley. Serve it forth. Serves 4.
Beyond Non-Binary 