Wild Mushrooms And Pasta

Before I talk about anything else, I wanted to mention the great idea Lisa at Champaign Taste had this weekend.  She realized that Julia Child's birthday is next week on August 15 and had the grand idea of bloggers cooking a Julia recipe to celebrate.  I love the idea because Julia had a big impact on the way I cook and my interest in food. Plus, I spent a lot of time watching her shows with my mom.  So, I urge you to go over to Lisa's site to find out about the event.  Even if you don't think you'll want to cook a Happy Birthday dish, Lisa has some great pictures on her site.  I really loved the one of Julia towering over a tiny stove.  Thanks for thinking of this Lisa!! 

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program. I'm very happy that my grocery store began carrying beautiful fresh "wild" mushrooms.  Of course, these are wild varieties, grown by commercial mushroom growers. When I saw a box of lovely Trumpet Royale, brown and Alba clamshells, and velvet pioppini mushrooms at the store, I knew that my meal would be easy.  With lovely fungi like this, you don't have to do much more than toss them in some oil with a few herbs and serve them over asparagus, pasta, or some other willing participant. And that's just what I did.

These were so pretty I wanted to keep things simple, so I just chopped them, careful to retain the character of their original shapes, and sauteed them in olive oil with a few chopped shallots, a clove of garlic and some parsley.  I added 3 crimini mushrooms living on borrowed time in the produce bin of my fridge, as well.

Then I added about 1/3 cup cream, marsala wine, and a few sprigs of fresh thyme. You can omit the cream if you wish.

I tossed it with some nice pasta and it was done.  You can make this with regular supermarket mushrooms and it will taste good too. But, if you see these cultivated wild mushrooms that are appearing in grocery stores--give them a try.  They taste delicious and are also a treat for the eye. They do cost more than regular mushrooms, but the whole meal wound up costing around $6 dollars, which was much less than what this meal would cost in a restaurant.

Wild Mushrooms With Pasta

Around 8 ounces Wild  or cultivated mushrrooms of your choice
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2-3 shallots or white part of green onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic
2-3 tablespoons chopped parsely
1/3 cup cream (optional)
2 Tablesppons dry sherry or marsala wine
2 sprig of thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Chop mushrooms roughly, then saute in oil with the shallots, parsely and garlic for about 3 minutes until the mushrooms have released some of their liquid and it has cooked down.  Add cream, wine, and thyme and cook for around 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.  Serve on pasta, cooked asparagus, toast, or whatever your heart desires.

Comments

[Alanna]

Gorgeous!!

[kalyn]

I like the idea of an event for Julia's birthday. I'll try to do something, although I only have one of her books and hardly ever use it.

The mushrooms look wonderful!! I love every type of mushroom.

[Kristi]

Did you ever read "Julia and Julie" by Julie Powell? If you're a Julia Child fan, you should check it out, and it's hysterical too!

[kross-eyed kitty]

I LOVE mushrooms...this looks very tasty! And, this summer I read Julie and Julia which I really enjoyed. I will check out Lisa's site.
Now, I am off to find your Onion Jam! I bought a bunch of onions at the Farmer's Market and remembered that I had seen your recipe last week. I am inspired. I'll let you know how it turns out!

[coffeepot]

The pasta looks yummy!

The Julia event sounds fun!

I only have her Menu Cookbook but I might be able to do something if I can find the time.

My garden has me so covered up in canning not sure I will have time.

[sher]

Alanna,

Thank you!

Kalyn,

I bet there are recipes of Julia's that fit the South Beach Diet!

Kristi,

I wasn't lucky enough to read it from it's start. I would like to do that someday. She had quite an adventure.

kross-eyed kitty,

I really need to do a recipe index! At the top of my list of things to do. Here it is: http://whatdidyoueat.typepad.com/what_did_you_eat/2005/11/onion_jam.html It's great!! I need to make some myself.

Coffeepot,

Julia had quite a few different types of salads--so a salad or some type of veggies would be nice. I recently made a simple salad of hers that was just chopped tomatoes, olives, and string cheese with viniagrette. It was great!! Or her salade nicoise!

[kross-eyed kitty]

The Onion Jam turned out absolutely DELICIOUS. Thaks for the inspiration. I did add rosemary, and didn't have marsala so i poured in some wine instead. Turned out great!

[Christine]

This dish looks just wonderful!
I love the idea of cooking for Julia's birthday.
I'm back!!

[steven]

I've been so lazy in the kitchen with all the canning, so it's nice to see people actually make nice dinners. I'll be right over.

[Julie]

That picture makes me want to reach for a fork. Yum!

[ann]

what kind of pasta is that?
it looks kinda yellowish....
man, those mushrooms look delectable.... and all i've got for lunch is a stupid co-workers cookiepuss ice cream birthday cake ;-)

[sher]

kross-eyed kitty,

So glad it all turned out great. I need to make more myself. It's a wonderful thing to have stashed away to add to things--or just to put on a sandwich.

Christine,

Glad you're back! I bet you had a fabulous time in Ashland.

Steven,

"Lazy" is the last thing I'd use to describe you in the kitchen. You can, garden, make great meals, etc. Whew!

Julie,

Thanks. I wish I had some right now!!

Ann,

The pasta was the egg noodles that De Cecco makes and sells in a large flat box. They were very good. They did come out looking very yellow, didn't they? Sorry about the cake. Not a good one? I hate bad cake!

[Glenna]

Really beautiful and I love that it's so simple, fresh, and uncomplicated to prepare. Some nights you really need that, you know?

[aria]

mmm, that looks delish. chris will not eat mushrooms, can ya believe that? i have to sneak around behind his back :0 - i love how the markets have wild mushrooms these days too. now if i could just get my grubby little fingers on a truffle one of these days.....