Name: Two Mushroom Sauce with Rosemary
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons unsalted butter; 1 tablespoon olive oil; 1 medium onion , minced; 2 medium cloves garlic , minced; 1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary; 1 pound white button mushrooms , stems trimmed and sliced thin; 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms , rehydrated, strained, and chopped coarse; soaking liquid reserved; Salt and ground black pepper; 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves

Why This Recipe Works

We wanted to create a dried porcini mushroom sauce recipe for pasta with a robust, earthy flavor. We found that a soak of 20 minutes in hot tap water was enough to soften the mushrooms for our porcini sauce recipe, and five or 10 minutes more did no harm. But perhaps more important than soaking was straining. Dried porcini are often packaged with foreign matter. Lifting the mushrooms from the soaking liquid with a fork helped keep the grit in the bowl. We didn’t discard the leftover liquid, instead pouring it through a small mesh strainer lined with a single paper towel before using it to flavor our sauce.

Before You Begin

Button mushrooms get a tremendous boost from a handful of dried porcini. Serve with orecchiette or small shells. So that the pasta better absorbs the sauce, simmer the cooked pasta and one-third cup of grated Parmesan cheese with the sauce for a minute or two, then serve.

Instructions

Heat butter and oil over medium heat in large sauté pan. Add onion; sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and rosemary; sauté until garlic is golden, about 1 minute.

Add button mushrooms; sauté until golden and liquid evaporates, about 8 minutes. Add chopped porcini; sauté to release flavors, 1 to 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add soaking liquid; bring to simmer. Stir in parsley, adjust seasonings, and serve.