chanterelle and brown butter angel hair pasta

I know that chanterelles aren't the most accessible of fungi for those not living in the Pacific Northwest, but given the fact that I just moved here I definitely felt obligated to make the first post in this funemployment-fueled blog about them.

Because really, there's no mushroom better than the glorious golden chanterelle. And Portland is currently inundated with them.

Also inspired by a friend who said the other day that he'd never cooked a mushroom, this recipe is dead easy and showcases the firm, buttery, wonderful qualities of this fungus. It can be made vegan or vegetarian, too, so...what's not to love?

~*~

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 strips bacon or 2 tbsp vegetable oil
1-1.5 lbs of chanterelle or other mushroom (maitakes or porcinis would work fine)
2 servings angel hair pasta (reserve 1 cup of pasta water)
1/2 a red onion
1 clove elephant garlic or 3 cloves regular garlic
2 tbsp of butter or vegetable oil
1-2 tbsp flour
4 sprigs thyme, 2 sprigs oregano
salt & pepper
parmesan or vegan parmesan (optional)

To clean chanterelles, wet a piece of paper towel and gently wipe off any dirt or pine needles. Chop chanterelles into roughly equal-size pieces--try to expose as much surface area as possible.

Start off your two strips of bacon in a pan at medium heat, or heat up your vegetable oil. If you used bacon, once it's done, remove it from the pan and add 1 tbsp vegetable oil to the pan just to make sure there's enough fat in which to sauté your onions. If you're going the veggie route, just heat up your oil in a pan.

Chop up your onion and move it to your pan. In the meantime, start your water for your pasta.

I had elephant garlic on hand, so I decided to use it. It's a milder garlic with more chive-y spice to it. Photographed to show its indeed-elephantine proportions:

Yep...it's about three inches long.

In my book, more garlic is always better, but you can dial it back if you'd like. I sliced mine into thin but wide slabs but if you'd rather have garlic be a...er...background flavor, you can mince it more finely.

Definitely more slabs than slices. What can I say? I'm definitely not a vampire.

Now your chanterelles can go in!

Don't forget to add salt and pepper to your liking. We want the water from the mushrooms to come out and evaporate--they'll need to cook until there's no liquid left in the pan and they look soft, about 10 minutes.

Angel hair only takes about 5 minutes, so you need to time the arrival of your pasta correctly! You can even wait until your sauce is done until you put the pasta in since it cooks so quickly.

Now that the mushrooms are cooking, you can begin the brown butter process. Basically, what you want to do is create a thickener for your sauce. Tomatoes are acidic and would overwhelm the delicate mushrooms, but cream can muddy the subtle flavors, too. This is a nice way to make a sauce without having to change your flavor profile. (Also, it has the added bonus for me of being cream-free, and since I'm severely cream 'n' cheese intolerant, that would be a big thumbs up!) If you are okay with cream, skip these steps and add it in once your mushrooms are done, and voila! Otherwise:

(This could potentially be made vegan-style, with oil instead of butter, but I've never tried it before--anyone who's determined can give it a whirl and let me know!)

Anyway, if you're committed to following the way I did it...

Start by melting about 2 tbsp of butter. When that's good and melted, add in 1 to 2 tbsp of flour, enough to thicken the butter but not so much that the flour soaks up all of it. It's going to look totally weird, but don't panic--give it a good stir. It should look like the second frame.

If you're a wanderer like me, multitasking and doing other things while you cook, stay put. You need to stir it until it begins to look like the third window--a nice, nutty brown. If you smell it at this stage, it'll actually smell a little bit like peanut butter. Once it's at this stage, you've cooked out the raw taste of the flour and the butter will have taken on a wonderful nutty quality.

Now you can put a little bit of water in the pot, just to make it easier to pour out into your mushrooms to make your sauce. It'll sputter and start to separate a little--don't panic, just keep stirring and it will look like the fourth frame, similar to a nice, brown, nutty gravy-like sauce. If this whole process worries you, when I put the water in my boyfriend shouted from the living room, "What smells so good?"

(I'm trying to inspire feelings of faith here. Hopefully you're feeling more optimistic!)

Now that you've got that ready, you can pour your brown butter sauce into your mushroom mix. If your pasta is done or currently cooking, reserve or siphon off 1/2-1 cup of the pasta water. The water is nice and starchy from the pasta, so it will serve as another way to make your mushroom sauce a little thicker.

Now's the part where you make a judgment call--add the water a little bit at a time until you have the desired consistency--half a cup should do fine. When your pasta is done, place it in the pan so it has a chance to soak up some of the sauce.

Toss quickly, then plate.

My toppings with my reserved pasta water.

Top with fresh herbs (pull the leaves off the stems and rub them between your fingers to release those aromatic oils) and some bits of bacon, if you went the carnivore route. If you're so inclined, you may sprinkle on some dairy or non-dairy parmesan cheese.

Beautiful, innit? Best served hot, so consume fresh. Enjoy!