The Pasta Diaries: Fettuccine with Mushroom Ragout

Dear Fettuccine with Mushroom Ragout,

Every time I pick up my fork your long twirls make my heart skip a beat. Covered in thick heaps of mushrooms, flecked with various shades of brown, I can only imagine that if you were a woman - you’d be that long legged, wild, brunette that men go crazy for. You’d draw in all the attention - soft, supple, all the right curves in all the right places. Yes, that’s you Fettuccine with Mushroom Ragout.

In stature I myself am not quite leggy but average and strong, busty and proportionally curvy - or so I’ve been told. A good twirl, if you will. And when I sit down to enjoy your company being long and leggy doesn’t matter, rather, finding satisfaction as I spy the curve of my stomach and feel my hip touch my chair as I cross my legs, well, that’s everything.

Tonight it’s just me and you. 

A glass of wine, ok, a bottle, and some dreamy fantasies of life after quarantine. 

With love,
Tina to Table 

Mushroom Ragout
3 tablespoons of butter
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
2 shallots, diced 10-15 sage leaves, finely chopped
1 box of white button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 box of crimini mushrooms or baby bellas, cleaned and sliced 
10-15 bundles of oyster mushrooms, cleaned and roughly chopped
Salt
3-4 tablespoons of white wine *use only wine you would drink with, please 
Fresh pasta or pasta of choice, I prefer a longer noodle lately but this is nice with a farfalle too or even an orecchiette - I love the way the mushrooms shrink down and get scooped up by the little ear shaped pasta
Pecorino for grating - always my preference for a sharp salt - but a nice parmigiano is also always lovely

Add butter and shallots to a large sauté pan and place over a medium low flame, sautéing until shallots are soft and translucent - about 5 minutes. Add sage and “fry” until fragrant - about 3 minutes. Place all mushrooms in the pan and sprinkle with salt. Your pan will be crowded and the salt will draw the water from the mushrooms, so be patient and move the mushrooms about the pan until all tossed in the butter, shallots and sage. Practice patience as the mushrooms, cook down for 10 minutes, sip on the white wine you’re cooking with or dare to cut off a nibble of pecorino.

Once the mushrooms have started shrinking and liquid releases in your pan, raise the flame and continue to sauté - this will cause the liquid to begin evaporating. Again, patience, another 7-10 minutes of sipping wine and you’ll be adding wine to the pan. Add wine and cook until absorbed and evaporated. Mushrooms should be a nice deep brown by now. Boil pasta and remember to add a drizzle of olive oil to the water while boiling, only salting after boiled! A fresh pasta will cook in 2-3 minutes but if you’re using boxed, you can start boiling it right before the last step of adding the wine to your mushrooms. Reserve a cup of pasta water and strain, spoons heaps of pasta into your mushroom ragout and finish with olive oil. Grate pecorino and toss to coat, do this twice, it’s nice. You’ll see the cheese melts on to the mushrooms and clings to the pasta just perfectly. Serve heaps of leggy fettuccini, ears or bowties scooped with mushrooms, and finish with more pecorino. Mangia.