Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking - Marcella Hazan [241]
2. Choose a saute pan that can subsequently accommodate the mushrooms without crowding them, put in the garlic and olive oil, and turn on the heat to medium high. Cook and stir the garlic until it becomes colored a pale gold, then add all the mushrooms and turn up the heat to high.
3. When the mushrooms have soaked up all the oil, add salt and pepper, turn the heat down to low, and shake the pan to toss the mushrooms, or stir with a wooden spoon. As soon as the mushrooms shed their juices, which will happen very quickly, turn the heat up to high again and boil those juices away for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
4. Taste and correct for salt. Add the chopped parsley, stir well once or twice, then transfer the contents of the pan to a warm platter, and serve at once.
Note If you allow the mushrooms to cool down to room temperature they will make an excellent antipasto. They can be served as part of a buffet or on their own, on thin slices of grilled or toasted bread.
Method 2
For 6 servings
To the ingredients in the preceding recipe add:
A small packet OR 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms, reconstituted and cut up
The filtered water from the mushroom soak
1. Trim, wash, towel-dry, and slice the white mushrooms as described in Step 1 of the preceding recipe.
2. Choose a saute pan that can subsequently contain all the ingredients without crowding, put in the garlic and oil, and turn on the heat to medium. Cook and stir the garlic until it becomes colored a pale gold, then add the chopped parsley. Stir rapidly once or twice, add the chopped, reconstituted dried porcini, stir once or twice again to coat well, then add the filtered water from the porcini soak. Turn up the heat and cook at a lively pace until all the water has simmered away.
3. Add the sliced fresh mushrooms to the pan, together with salt and pepper, turn them over completely once or twice, turn the heat down to low, and cover the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 25 to 30 minutes, until the fresh mushrooms become very soft and dark. If, when they are done, the pan juices are still watery, uncover, raise the heat to high, and quickly boil them away. Transfer the contents of the pan to a warm platter, and serve at once.
Fresh Mushrooms with Porcini, Rosemary, and Tomatoes
For 4 to 6 servings
1 pound fresh, firm, white button OR cremini mushrooms
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
Chopped rosemary leaves, 1 teaspoon if fresh, ½ teaspoon if dried
A small packet OR 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms, reconstituted and cut up
The filtered water from the mushroom soak
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
½ cup canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, cut up, with their juice
1. Trim, wash, and towel-dry the fresh mushrooms as described in Step 1 of this recipe. Cut them lengthwise in half, or if large, in quarters, keeping the caps attached to the stems.
2. Choose a saute pan that can subsequently contain all the ingredients loosely, put in the oil and garlic, and turn on the heat to medium high. Cook and stir the garlic until it becomes colored a pale gold, then add the rosemary and the chopped, reconstituted dried porcini. Stir once or twice again to coat well, then add the filtered water from the porcini soak. Turn the heat up and cook at a lively pace until all the water has simmered away.
3. Add the cut-up fresh mushrooms to the pan, together with salt and pepper, turn the heat up to high, and cook, stirring frequently, until the liquid shed by the fresh mushrooms has simmered away.
4. Add the tomatoes with their juice, toss thoroughly to coat well, cover the pan, and turn the heat down to low. Cook for about 10 minutes. If while cooking there should not be sufficient liquid in the pan to keep the mushrooms from sticking to the bottom, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of water, as needed. When done, transfer