Mushroom Pasta with wilted Arugula, Goat Cheese, and Extra Virgin Olive Oil

This recipe is from The Essential New York Times Cookbook, which the November 2001 issue of Cooking Light listed as one of the Top 9 General Cookbooks for the last 25 years. This recipe called for cremini mushrooms, but the Veggie dad (who does the bulk of our shopping) was unable to find them in our store so we substituted with baby bella mushrooms.  I also decreased the amount of oil in the recipe and increased the amount of pasta water.  This recipe has you saute the mushrooms on high heat.  Every fiber of my being said: NO, but I did it and it worked out well.  According to the notes for the recipes cooking the mushrooms on high heat prevents the mushrooms from stewing and later making the pasta sauce soggy. Just keep moving them in the pan so that they don't burn. 

1 pound spaghetti

1/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 pounds baby bella or cremini mushrooms

freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoons minced garlic

3 cups tightly packed baby arugula, washed

3/4 pound soft goat cheese, at room temperature

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add the spaghetti and cook until al dente; about 10 minutes. 
2. Meanwhile, warm 1 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over high heat.Add half the mushrooms, season with pepper and cook, stirring often for about 3 minutes.  Add half of the garlic and cook until fragrant, and the mushrooms have softened, an additional 2 minutes.  Transfer the mushrooms and garlic to bowl and keep them warm.  Repeat the process with the remaining mushrooms, garlic and another 1 tablespoon of oil. 
3. When the spaghetti is cooked, reserve 1 cup of pasta water and drain the pasta.  Return the pasta to the pot and add the sauteed mushrooms, arugula, goat cheese, 1/4 cup olive oil, and enough pasta water to achieve the desired consistency with the sauce.  Toss the pasta gently until the cheese is melted and the arugula is wilted.  Serve warm and enjoy.

White Lasagna with Mushrooms

Several years ago (over a decade) my boyfriend (now husband) came home for a visit to his mother's raving about a white mushroom lasagna that his mother had gotten from Balducci's.  Based on his often repeated description of the dish, I attempted to make a White Lasagna with Mushrooms recently. 

It is not often that I use two pictures in one post, but this turned out so beautifully that I have to include a long shot and a close up.  I made this recipe as I would my regular Mushroom Lasagna but I made a vegetable broth based cream sauce to replace the red sauce and I did not mix the mushrooms in with the ricotta cheese mixture.  I used garlic powder to add some flavor sauce instead of minced garlic because I did not want the sauce to be lumpy at all. I have no idea if I even got close to the original dish that my husband has raved about all these years, but it was delicious anyway. 

9 lasagna noodles, cooked la dente
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 3/4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup heavy cream
15 ounces ricotta cheese
2 eggs
2 cups shredded mozzarella, divided
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 sea salt
olive oil
2 pounds slice brown and white mushrooms
salt to taste
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Cook the lasagna noodles as per package instructions, but do not over cook the noodles. 
2. In a saucepan, melt the unsalted butter, sprinkle the flour and garlic powder over the top of the butter and mix with a whisk until a paste or roux is formed.  To the roux, slowly add in the vegetable broth a little at a time while stirring with a whisk to ensure that no lumps are formed.  Add the cream a little at a time, again stirring with a whisk to avoid lumps. Set the sauce aside. 
3. In a medium sized bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, eggs, 1 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, oregano, basil and salt. 
4. In a large skillet warm 1/2 tablespoon olive oil and saute the mushrooms in batches until they are browned and have released all water.  As to do each batch you made need to add another 1/2 tablespoon of oil to the pan.  Salt the mushrooms to taste.
5. Place a layer of sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 in baking dish.  Top this with 3 noodles, 1/3 of the ricotta cheese, 1/3 of the sauteed mushrooms.  Repeat the layers ending with a layer of sauce.  Top with the remaining shredded mozzarella cheese and the Parmesan cheese

Vegan Mongolian Faux Beef

This recipe is based on one that found on Food.com.  I made several changes and additions to the original recipe, but one things I did little to change was the sauce.  This sauce is pretty much the bomb and I liked it better than the real Mongolian Beef at my local Chinese restaurant. 

1 (14-ounce) package extra firm tofu, well drained and cut into strips
4 tablespoons sesame oil, divided
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
1 cup low sodium soy sauce
1 cup water
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 large onion chopped
10 ounces slice white mushrooms
1 package beef like vegan meat substitute (like the meatless beef from Trader Joe's)

1. Cut and drain your tofu.  See the post, How to Drain Tofu for specifics. While the tofu drains, warm 3 tablespoons of sesame oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  When the oil is warm add the ginger and garlic, cooking until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Do not let the garlic burn.  Add the soy sauce and water.  Slowly add in the brown sugar and stir until the sugar is all dissolved.  Bring the mixture to a slow boil and cook until the sauce has reduced just a bit. 
2. While the sauce is reducing warm one tablespoon of sesame oil to another skillet, to this add the oil and cook until the onion in slightly tender and has released some of its moisture.  Remove the onion from the skillet and set aside.  Add the mushrooms to the still warm skillet and cook them until they are brown and have released all their liquid. 
3. The sauce should be reduced just a bit by now.  To the sauce add the cornstarch and stir with a whisk until the cornstarch is 100% incorporated into the sauce.  The sauce should thicken almost immediately.  Reduced the heat to low, and add in the onions, mushrooms, tofu sticks, and beef-like meat substitute.  Stir until everything is well coated and allow to cook together for 10 minutes or so until all the flavors are combined. 

Brown Rice Pilaf with Two Mushrooms

This recipe is directly from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman.  You can use brown basmati or white basmati.  I you opt for white basmati rice shorten your cooking time by 20 minutes in the rice cooking step.

3/4 ounces dried porcini mushrooms
2 1/2 cups Mushroom Stock (see Friday's post)
6 tablespoons olive oil
2 shallots, minced
1 1/4 cups brown basmati rice, rinsed and drained
freshly ground pepper, as needed
4 ounces shiitake mushroom caps, sliced

1. Combine the dried porcini mushrooms with the stock in a small saucepan, and warm while you begin cooking the rice. 
2. Add half the oil to a deep skillet (one with a lid) and warm over medium heat. When the oil is warm, add the shallot and cook until the shallot is softened.  Add the rice and cook until the rice is well coated with the oil and the edges of the rice begin to brown.  To the rice and shallot, add the porcini mushrooms (hold off no the stock) and continue cooking, sprinkle with freshly ground pepper and continue to cook for 5 minutes.  Add the liquid all at once, adjust the heat so that the mixture bubbles very gently and cover.  Total cooking time from this point will be about 40 minutes, check after 20 to 30 minutes to make sure there is enough liquid and if there is not, add about 1/2 cup more. 
3. About 15 minutes before the pilaf is done, put the remaining oil in another skillet over medium heat.  Add the shiitakes, along with a pinch of salt and cook until the shiitakes are slightly browned and have released their juices, about 10 minutes. 
4. When the rice is tender, uncover and add the shiitakes.  Stir well, taste and add salt and pepper as needed.