You may notice a theme this week, as I’m trying to use up some of the leftover odds and ends from our party. The mushroom filling I stuffed into puff pastry rolls uses a mix of dried and fresh mushrooms, and while the dried ones will keep just fine in the cupboard, the fresh ones (shiitake and crimini, in this case) have a far shorter shelf life.
I often use my mushroom filling as a topping for pasta or gnocchi, enriching it with a bit of cream, but I wanted to do something a little lighter. I did a quick search of foodandwine.com and found a recipe for Spaghetti with Shiitakes, Parmesan and Pepper, which really appealed to me, and since I could get it ready in plenty of time for us to watch Heroes, it sounded perfect.
I ended up following the recipe pretty closely, though I did add a generous amount of fresh thyme and a tablespoon of sherry vinegar to the sauce, which I think added a little more complexity to the dish. The earthiness of the mushrooms and the bite of black pepper were delicious together, and the Dolcetto we drank with our meal complemented the flavors really nicely.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Hillary 09.25.07 at 1:25 pm
Oh man, I forgot about the whole world of mushrooms out there. That pasta looks so good and has me craving shiitake mushrooms!
Jennifer Hess 09.25.07 at 1:27 pm
I looooooooove mushrooms! I always start craving them bigtime when it gets to be fall.
(And I haven’t forgotten about your meme tag! Just need to get my guys out the door for their hearing tomorrow and then I’ll work on it!)
hikalu 09.26.07 at 3:35 am
Champignons! In Autumn, There are lots of mushroom here or there. The pasta simply looks delicious. I’m gonna make pasta with mushrooms tonight.
Jennifer Hess 09.26.07 at 11:02 am
This was really so easy, and so good, definitely give it a try!
Toni 10.02.07 at 1:13 pm
Man, and I’ve been craving mushrooms. This looks fabulous - I wish my sweetheart enjoyed mushrooms as much as I do!