Mushrooms amaze me. They give so much for so little. One of the least expensive vegetables to be found in the market year-round, the common button mushroom is a treasure of flavor, texture, aroma. A good fresh mushroom needs little embellishment: Here I simply cook the mushrooms in a touch of butter, a squeeze of lemon juice, then bathe them in a sauce of reduced light cream and stock. Top the mushrooms with a sheet of pasta, a garnish of parsley and you’ve got dinner on the table.

Equipment: A 10-quart (10 l) pasta pot fitted with a colander; 4 warmed dinner plates

2 cups (500 ml) Homemade Chicken or Vegetable Stock

2 cups (500 ml) light cream

1 tablespoon (15 g) unsalted butter

1 pound (500 g) mixed domestic or mixed wild mushrooms, cleaned and halved

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Four 5-inch (12.5 cm) squares of fresh pasta

3 tablespoons coarse sea salt

Fresh parsley leaves, for garnish

1. In a saucepan, combine the stock and cream and reduce by half over high heat, about 15 minutes.

1. In a large saucepan, combine the butter, mushrooms, and lemon juice. Cover and cook over moderate heat until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the reduced stock mixture, and stir to coat the mushrooms. Keep the mushrooms warm while finishing the dish.

1. Fill the pasta pot with 8 quarts (8 l) of water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat.  Add the coarse salt and the pasta, stirring to prevent the pasta from sticking. Cook until tender. Drain.
2. Arrange the sauced mushrooms in the center of each dinner plate. Arrange a sheet of pasta on top of the mushrooms. Garnish with parsley and serve.

4 servings

Wine suggestion: I like white wine with my mushrooms: Try the simple, light, refreshing Picpoul de Pinet from Domaine Félines Jourdain.

AHEAD OF TIME NOTE:

Prepare the mushrooms and sauce earlier in the day, combine them, and refrigerate. At serving time warm them as the water boils for pasta.