This recipe is repurposed from a very sexy cook book, David Rocco's Dolce Vita. I made it the same way he did a few times and then tweaked it a bit to turn it into a pasta sauce. The herbs with the mushrooms are surprisingly delicious and it's so easy, you can fool everyone you are a pro chef.

Ingredients for 4 people:

10-15 regular brown mushrooms or 8ish Porcini mushrooms
2 sprigs fresh mint
2 sprigs fresh oregano
2 gloves pressed or finely chopped garlic
3-4 Tblsp heavy cream like whipping cream or half and half cream
1/8th Cup (ish) white wine
Olive oil (for cooking)
Fresh Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese to taste
Salt and Pepper to taste

A few cups of fresh penne pasta



Step 1:
Pour yourself a glass of Chardonnay.  You'll need a splash for the recipe anyway and I firmly believe that a glass of wine while cooking is much more dolce vita.  I like Bonterra's Organic Chardonnay from California, but we have a swell list of recommended wines here if you'd like more selection.  

Step 2:
Chop up the mushrooms, press the garlic and finely chop your herbs. Make sure you remove the stems unless you like the feeling of chewing on a mouthful of twigs.

Step 3:
Heat up your frying pan and add the olive oil. Don't be stingy. You need a little more than enough to cover the bottom of the pan.  Then add your pressed or finely chopped garlic and saute for about 30 seconds.

Step 4:
Add the mushrooms, then add a few splashes of white wine to deglaze the pan when it seems like you are running out of oil.  

Step 5:
The mushrooms will eventually release some liquid after about 5 minutes.  At this point, add your fresh cream, left over wine, herbs and salt and pepper.  Don't be too shy with the salt as that will really help bring out the flavours.

You can always add more cream if there isn't enough sauce, but it's not meant to be thick and creamy, more like a delicate flavouring on the pasta.



Top each portion with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and serve immediately.  I recommend this with a side dish of arugula salad with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, more parmigiano reggiano and pinenuts.

Buon appetito!

By: Ali de Bold