This recipe comes from the beautiful book Untamed Mushrooms: From Field to Table written and developed by my friend Lisa Golden Schroeder. Perfect for fall when we can forage for some of the fresh wild mushrooms here on Cape Cod. Dried mushrooms may also be hydrated, and the liquid incorporated into the ragout. I serve it with soft polenta (recipe follows).
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 pounds mixed wild mushrooms (chanterelles, king boletes, hen-of-the-woods, and/or hedgehogs or any assortment of your choice)
- Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- ½ cup dry white wine
- ½ cup stock (from hydrating mushrooms, or use chicken, beef or vegetable stock)
- 2 cups baby greens (arugula, kale or thinly sliced radicchio), if you’d like
Preparation
Heat the oil and butter in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes. Increase the heat to high, add the onion and continue cooking for about 5 minutes or until the mushrooms are deeply browned.
Stir in the wine; cook until it evaporates. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the greens if using.
Serve the mushrooms over soft polenta.
About this recipe
Kitchen Notes from Lisa
“This Italian-inspired recipe pretty much writes itself—it’s nearly the best way to savor wild mushrooms. It’s savory, fruity and earthy all at once. Since each mushroom takes its own time to be done, add them to the pan based on how firm they are, especially if you have delicate black trumpets or denser chicken-of-the-woods or lobsters—before melding them together with a slow simmer of wine. In Midwestern Italian neighborhoods, a cache of wild mushrooms becomes a meal starter for a cacciatore (hunter’s stew), as a straight-up sauce for sweet potato gnocchi or even a parsnip mash, or as an appetizer on top of toasted crusty bread.”
Look for Crescenza-Stracchino, a thick rindless cow’s milk cheese with a creamy color and mildly tangy flavor. Aged for only about a week, it’s a great melting cheese with a flavor like that of Monterey Jack. Spread some on warm slices of grilled firm polenta with a big spoonful of the earthy mushroom stew.
