Pasta With Mushroom-Thyme Cream Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 lb white mushroom, sliced
- salt
- black pepper, ground
- 12 ounce porcini mushrooms, dried, (rehydrated with 1 cup liquid reserved)
- 1 12 cups half-and-half
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon thyme, fresh
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 shallot, minced,
- 2 garlic cloves, minced,
- 14 cup dry sherry
- 1 lb linguine, or 1 lb spaghetti
Directions
**Rehydrate the porcini mushrooms while the mushrooms brown.Bring large pot of water to boil (4 quarts water).
Meanwhile, melt butter in medium saucepan over med-high heat; add in white mushrooms and 1/4 teaspoon salt; cook until browned, about 8 minutes.
While mushrooms cook, pureed rehydrateed porcini mushrooms, 1 cup reserved porcini liquid, half-and-half, soy sauce, thyme, and cornstarch in a blender until smooth, about 30 seconds.
Stir shallot into saucepan with mushrooms; cook until softened, about 2 minutes.
Stir in garlic; cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Stir in sherry and cook until nearly evaporated, about 1 minute.
Briefly re-blend porcini mixture to dissolve cornstarch; then stir into saucepan and simmer until thickened, about 2 mintues.
Remove sauce from heat and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Add pasta and 1 tablespoon salt to boiling water; cook, stirring often, until al dente.
Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water, then drain pasta and return to pot.
Stir sauce into pasta and add reserved pasta water as needed to loosen sauce; serve immediately.