The second to last race of the year is tomorrow morning, so I wanted something with pasta for dinner tonight. I’m not a die-hard ‘pasta before a race’ gal but I was craving it today. Well, pasta and a maple bar. Skipped the sweet and went for the pasta. I found a recipe on saveur.com that sounded so incredibly perfect for a fall night, Jonathan Waxman’s tube shaped pasta with wild mushrooms. Of course, I had to mess with what I’m sure was perfection. Sorry Chef Waxman. Added some fresh herbs and spinach. It was great but then again I was just building on wonderful already. This recipe is a fabulous way to take advantage of all the lovely mushrooms available right now. I nearly added cream to the dish…so glad I didn’t. I suppose if you wanted a little more richness in the sauce by way of something creamy the best thing to add would be a tablespoon of mascarpone. This pasta with one {yes, pre-race means just one} glass of an earthy deep red and you have a perfect meal for a chilly Seattle evening.

Linguine with Mushrooms
inspired by Jonathan Waxman
serves 4

4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small yellow onion, sliced
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 ½ lb. assorted mushrooms {I used cremini, chantrelles, lion mane}, sliced
1 oz. dried porcini reconstituted in 1 ½ cup hot water, liquid strained + reserved, roughly chopped
1 tbsp. rosemary, chopped
1 tbsp. thyme, chopped
¼ cup sherry
Kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper 
leaves of 6 sprigs of Italian parsely, chopped
2 cups baby spinach leaves
1 cup parmigiano reggiano, finely grated
1 lb. linguine

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. While waiting for the water to reach its boiling point, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add 2 tbsp. of the oil, onions and garlic. Sauté until the onions are translucent; about 4-5 minutes. Remove onions to a bowl.

To the skillet, add remaining 2 tbsp. of olive oil and the butter.  Add mushrooms and sauté until browned; about 8 minutes. Add rosemary and thyme; cook 1 more minute. Add sherry and 1 cup of the porcini liquid to deglaze the pan and stir. Salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat and add parsley and spinach; stir to incorporate.

Add some salt to the boiling water and cook linguine to al dente according to package directions. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water and drain noodles. Add to the skillet with mushrooms and onions. Add ¾ of the cheese, stirring gently to mix. If pasta appears too dry, slowly add pasta cooking water until a creamy sauce develops. Divide between four bowls and top with the remaining cheese.