Spaghetti w/ mushroom cream sauce

Over the past couple of months I've become somewhat obsessed with mushrooms. I've never really been that in to them, I would eat them with the occasional take-out chinese if they were in the meal I ordered, or I would pick around them depending on my mood. Then all of a sudden I couldn't get enough mushrooms, it seemed I always had some on hand, so I would include them in most everything I cooked. Usually they were sliced portabellas, button mushrooms or standard white mushrooms. I've never really ventured into the more exotic varieties, but I saw a package at the grocery the other day of crimini, shiitake, and oyster mushrooms. I couldn't resist buying it. Then I had to figure out what to do with them, I didn't want to just incorporate them into a meal, I wanted to make a meal that featured them. So I decided on a mushroom cream sauce. It was great, very flavorful and a meal that might seem like it would take a while to prepare, but is actually probably the easiest recipe I have. Next time your in the mushroom kind of mood definitely give this recipe a try, it's so simple and doesn't take much time at all to prepare and most importantly, it tastes great.

Spaghetti with Mushroom Cream Sauce

serves 2

1 pound of spaghetti

About 1/2 pound mushrooms (I can't exactly remember how much I had)

3/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup beef stock

1/4 cup dry red wine

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 shallot; sliced thin

3 garlic cloves; minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

cayenne pepper to taste

salt and pepper

Bring the olive oil up to medium heat in a frying pan, then saute the mushrooms for 7-10 minutes, tossing every couple minutes being sure they do not burn.

As the mushrooms cook bring a pot of water to a boil.

After the mushrooms saute for about 7 minutes add the shallots, when the shallots turn translucent, a minute or two, add the garlic and let fry until fragrant, about another minute.

Deglaze the pan with the red wine, and allow to reduce until it is almost all the way evaporated. Then add the heavy cream, beef stock and soy sauce. Bring it up to a simmer and let it go for about 5-7 minutes to reduce a little bit and thicken up.

As the sauce is simmering, drop the spaghetti into the boiling water and cook to al dente. Just before the spaghetti is done cooking add the parmesan to the sauce and stir to incorporate it. Then drain the spaghetti and place it in the pan with the sauce.

Toss the spaghetti in the sauce to evenly distribute it, and serve.

Eat well, Live well