Pasta with Chantrelles

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I've never cooked with fresh chantrelles before but I couldn't resist the basket spilling over with them at the Foraged & Found Edibles booth at the Ballard market on Sunday. I decided to give it a shot. I opted for pasta with chantrelles and figured you couldn't go wrong with a great sauce made from shallots, garlic, butter and cream. I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. Not too heavy, quite flavorful and easy to repeat now that I know what I'm doing.

Pasta with Chantrelles

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4 T butter

1 T olive oil

3 T shallot, minced (about one medium shallot)

2 T garlic, minced (about 4 cloves)

2 T sherry (decent sherry, not just "cooking sherry")

1/4 cup white wine

3/4 lb chantrelles, cleaned and sliced

3 cups homemade chicken stock

1-2 t fresh thyme, minced

1/4 cup cream (or more)

salt and pepper

1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano

1/2 - 3/4 lb spaghetti or fettucini

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

Melt 2 T butter and olive oil over medium heat in a large saute pan or braiser. Add shallots and cook for a few minutes. Add garlic and saute for a few minutes, then add mushrooms. Add more butter if needed. Saute for a few minutes. Add sherry and wine, then bring to a quick boil. Lower heat and saute for a few minutes. Add 1/2 cup chicken stock and bring to a slight boil again. Reduce to medium and cook, reducing the sauce. Add salt and pepper and thyme. Continue to add stock 1/2 cup at a time, reducing and adding more every 5 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.

Add noodles to salted boiling water and cook according to package directions.

When you have a small amount of reduced sauce, lower temperature and then slowly pour in cream around outside of pan. Stir into the sauce and make sure heat is low enough that it doesn't boil. Check seasoning and add more salt, pepper, butter or cream as needed.

Drain noodles and add to sauce. (I never add all the noodles to the sauce at once because I like to monitor the sauce to noodle ratio. I hate when it's too light on sauce. This means I end up with a bunch of plain noodles that I toss with butter, parmesan and whatever I have in the fridge for my daughter. If you want to use the full pound of noodles, just increase your sauce ingredients proportionately).

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Stir to combine and sprinkle with most of the parmesan. Plate pasta and sprinkle with remaining parmesan. Serve with garlic crostinis and white wine.