Pasta forestiere

by YankeeJim | May 23, 2011 at 12:28 pm

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After a hard day at the office – painting in the woods, one gets very hungry. Inspired by the earthiness, I decided to make pasta forestiere this evening. Here is a New York Times recipe that is basic. Since I am having a vegetarian dinner tonight, there will be no serving this dish with meat as they suggest. Instead, I toast some walnuts and add them to the pasta during the finish. (Don’t forget a little nutmeg really makes it.)

I also serve it with a small lettuce salad and tomatoes.

The dish is great with a glass of chardonnay.

“Sauce Forestiere (Wild mushroom sauce)

INGREDIENTS

·         1/4 pound wild mushrooms such as Black Forest, cepes or porcini

·         1/4 pound fresh mushrooms

·         Salt to taste if desired

·         1 tablespoon butter

·         3/4 cup heavy cream

·         Freshly ground pepper to taste

·         1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

·         1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

PREPARATION

1. Coarsely chop mushrooms; there should be about 2 cups of each.

2. Bring enough water to cover mushrooms to boil and add salt to taste. Add mushrooms and cook about 1 minute. Drain immediately. Put mushrooms in cheesecloth and squeeze to extract most of liquid.

3. Put mushrooms into the container of food processor or electric blender and blend as fine as possible. There should be about 1/2 cup.

4. Melt butter in saucepan and add mushrooms. Cook briefly and add cream, salt, pepper, nutmeg and cayenne pepper. Let simmer 5 minutes.”