Wild Mushroom Pasta

4/21/2007
Even while I'm away I care about your happiness. And of course there's the two hours to kill while we wait for our plane to depart here in "beautiful" Newark. Could there be more oil tanks and ugly industry around any airport? Not exactly like landing at PDX and flying down the Columbia. While pondering this horrific industrial excess, I remembered that I wanted to mention a great pasta I whipped up last night (Friday) when w and I were on a mission to empty the fridge before we left.

I had forgotten I had some morels and other fresh mushrooms from last Saturdays Farmer's Market. I got home late from the wine shack, and still had some getting ready to do, and needed something fast and good. So out came the mushrooms, a stalk of leeks, and some DeCecco perciatelli pasta. It turned deliciously, earthily mushroomy, just what we wanted, and for a last minute throw together it will find a place in the regular rotation. Very easy and super quick, this makes me look forward to my next visit to the market and the mushroom guys....

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Wild Mushroom Pasta
Serves 4

Ingredients
3/4 pound mixed wild mushrooms sliced and chopped into not too small pieces...I used morels, shiitake, and hedgehogs
1 cup chopped leeks, white and light green parts only
1 tablespoon minced garlic
Olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup 1/2 and 1/2
1 pound pasta

How: Melt 1 tablespoon butter with 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat in large sauté pan. When hot, add leeks, sprinkle with a pinch of salt, and sauté until soft, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for 2 minutes more. Add mushrooms and sauté. After about five minutes add one more tablespoon of butter, then sauté for another five minutes. While mushrooms are sautéing start pasta water. Turn heat under mushrooms down to low and add 1/2 and 1/2. Grind in a bit of fresh pepper and stir together and let cook for two minutes, then turn off heat. I think letting this sit in the pan while the pasta cooks helps the flavors of the leeks, mushrooms, and cream come together. When pasta is about a minute from being done, reheat mushrooms mix, drain pasta, add to mushroom mix. Adjust salt and pepper, plate, sprinkle some grated Parmigiano-Reggiano if you want, and enjoy!