Meatless Main Dish Monday: Porcini Mushroom Sauce With Cream

This is an intensely-flavored and rich sauce that is great over fresh or dried fettucine, with lots of freshly grated parmesan cheese. You won't miss the meat in this at all, if missing meat is even something that people do.

Dried porcini mushrooms are widely available, and I suggest keeping a few packages in your pantry. They are wonderful rehydrated and chopped in pasta sauces or ground in a food processor and mixed into pasta dough.

Serves 4.


3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, minced
2 ounces dried porcini mushrooms, rehydrated in 2 cups hot water, strained, and chopped coarse; soaking liquid reserved
Table salt and ground black pepper
6 tablespoons heavy cream
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

1. Heat butter in large sauté pan over medium heat. Add onion; sauté until edges begin to brown, about 7 minutes. Add porcini and salt and pepper to taste; sauté to release flavors, 1 to 2 minutes.

2. Increase heat to medium-high. Add soaking liquid; simmer briskly until liquid has reduced by half, about 10 minutes.

3. Stir in cream; simmer until sauce just starts to thicken, about 2 minutes. Stir in parsley, adjust seasonings, and serve.