A Proper Mushroom Sauce

A Proper Mushroom Sauce

Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 20 mins

Ingredients

  • 400g mixed mushrooms — chestnut, oyster, shiitake & wild mushrooms if you can
  • 30g butter
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 shallots, finely diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
  • 100ml dry white wine
  • 150ml double cream
  • 100ml good-quality chicken or vegetable stock
  • 40g Parmesan, finely grated
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
  • ½ tsp truffle oil — optional, but excellent
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • Salt & freshly cracked black pepper
  • 350g of RaviOllie ravioli
  • Small handful fresh parsley, chopped
  • Extra Parmesan to finish

Method

1. Get some serious colour on the mushrooms.
Slice the mushrooms fairly chunky. Heat a large frying pan until very hot, add the olive oil & fry the mushrooms in batches. Don't overcrowd the pan — you want them to caramelise rather than stew.

Season with salt once they're nicely browned. Add half the butter & cook for another minute. Remove roughly a third of the mushrooms & keep them aside for finishing.

2. Build the base.
Turn the heat down to medium. Add the remaining butter, followed by the shallots. Cook for 3–4 minutes until soft & translucent.

Add the garlic & thyme and cook for another 30 seconds.

3. Deglaze.
Pour in the white wine & scrape all those lovely caramelised mushroom bits from the bottom of the pan. Reduce by about two-thirds.

4. Make it saucy.
Add the stock, cream & Dijon mustard. Bring to a gentle simmer and reduce for 5–7 minutes until the sauce has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Return most of the mushrooms to the pan.

5. The cheffy bit.
Cook your ravioli for a minute less than it says on the bag, reserving a mug of pasta water.

Add the ravioli directly into the sauce with a splash of pasta water. Toss vigorously over a medium heat for 1 minutes. The starch from the pasta should emulsify with the cream & butter, giving you a glossy sauce that clings to every rav.

Take off the heat & stir through the parmesan.

Finish with the lemon juice, black pepper & just a few drops of truffle oil if using.

Chef's tip: The secret is not adding loads of cream. Get the mushrooms properly caramelised, reduce the wine & stock, then use pasta water + Parmesan to create the glossy emulsion. That's what takes it from creamy mushroom pasta to restaurant-level creamy mushroom pasta.

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