The Whole Wheat

I’ve spent a lot of time sorting through my magazines and recipes – trying to get organized! The fall cleaning I suppose. At any rate I stumbled on this recipe and realized I had about a pound of chanterelles in the fridge – perfect timing! This is a lovely light pasta sauce that is very quick and easy to make, but delicious! It would be ideal over freshly made pasta, but for a quick dinner, store bought whole wheat works for me.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 oz. dried porcini mushrooms (I used dried shitakes – but would not recommend that, they were chewy – so stick with porcinis)
• 1 1/2 c. boiling water
• 3 T butter (I use vegan margarine)
• 1 T olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 lb. chanterelles (or any wild mushrooms), cleaned and thickly sliced
• 3 T. parsley, chopped
• 1/2 package of whole wheat fettuccine
• 1/4 c. freshly grated parmesan

1. Place porcinis in a bowl and soak in the hot water for 30 minutes, or until soft. Drain but reserve the soaking liquid.
2. Meanwhile bring water to a boil and cook fettuccine according to directions.
3. In a large, deep skillet, melt butter with oil over medium heat. Add garlic and saute until it begins to brown. Add the fresh mushrooms; sprinkle with salt & pepper then cover. Cook until tender, about 6 minutes, stirring often.
4. When fresh mushrooms are tender, add the drained porcinis. Cover and cook 2 minutes. Uncover and saute about 2 minutes longer. Mix in parsley and season with salt & pepper.
5. Add drained noodles & cheese to the mushroom sauce in skillet. Toss over medium heat until the cheese melts and the pasta is well coated. Add reserved mushroom soaking liquid if sauce is too dry.