Recipe - Portobello Pasta with Mushrooms and Caramelized Leeks

Mushrooms are one of life's great pleasures. Earthy, woodsy, mushrooms. Every time I taste one, I'm transported back to my youth. Back to a cool, crisp autumn morning spent slowly strolling through the thick forest that surrounded our family cabin. A gentle mist blankets the brown patchwork of fallen leaves at our feet. My father and I scan the earth, searching for our treasure. Crinkly morels, velvety oysters, pungent porcinis. We fill our baskets with the terrestrial bounty of fall, and return home to prepare supper.


Okay, that story is completely fabricated. My point is this: mushrooms are delicious...and possibly hallucinogenic. If you like fungi like I like fungi, then this dish is really going to grow on you. We start with some fresh, locally made portobello mushroom pasta and prepare it simply with fresh shitakes and criminis, some caramelized leeks, and parsley. Click the read link for more details.

Clockwise from left: Garlic, Caramelized Leeks, Italian Parsley, Mushrooms, and Parmigiano

Let's start with the leeks. Leeks are related to both onions and elephant garlic, and have a mild flavor. I chose leeks in this dish to add a little sweetness without overpowering the mushrooms with onion or garlic flavors. Leeks are notoriously dirty, so begin prepping them by removing the tough, dark green parts, cutting lengthwise, and rinsing the leeks thoroughly. Cut the clean leeks into little half-moon strips.

Leeks

Bring a large skillet to the fire and render some bacon fat. The bacon will give a gentle smoky flavor that compliments the earthy notes of this dish as well as a little salty balance to the sweet caramelization we are going to achieve with our leeks.  Once that's done, toss in the leeks, a little cracked pepper, and begin sweating the water out of them.

Ooooo, steamy.

When you've cooked most of the water out, sprinkle a little sugar on them to kick start the caramelization.  Don't worry, I won't tell anyone of you won't.  Continue cooking over medium heat until you get this:

Sweet

Check for salt and set aside.

Resist the urge to eat this with a spoon

Now for the mushrooms.  I used cremini and shitake.  Go with whatever you have as long as they are not those white things (button mushrooms, meh). 
 

Slice them and throw into a hot saute pan with a little olive oil, chopped garlic, chopped Italian parsley, and cracked pepper.  Brown the mushrooms by keeping the heat up and not fiddling with them.

Get them good and brown

With your fungi browned, toss in the prepared leeks and just a splash of chicken stock and cream.  Easy on the cream!  We are just holding it together with the fat, not making a cream sauce.  This should NOT look like a "sauce", more like a pan of sauteed mushrooms with a little extra liquid.

Meanwhile, boil the pasta.

Head over to Nova Drive and get you some

I used this portobello mushroom linguine because my three year-old picked it out. This dish would be excellent with regular linguine or fettuccine, pappardelle, mafaldine, bucatini, etc.  I'm not going to go into proper pasta cooking technique here, but please don't over-cook it for God's sake.

When the pasta is al dente, pull it out with tongs and dump it in the pan with your shrooms, bringing some of the pasta liquid along for the ride.  Sprinkle in some additional chopped parsley, a little extra virgin olive oil, and a generous amount of grated parmigiano.  Toss to coat.  Buon appetito!