Delicious when served hot, this pasta dish is made for the culinarily creative -- feel free to use your favorite mushrooms for a recipe all your own. Ingredients 2/3 ounce dried morel or porcini mushrooms 1 3/4 cups boiling-hot water 5 tablespoons unsalted butter 1/2 pound fresh cremini mushrooms trimmed and sliced 1/4 inch thick 3/4 pound mixed fresh wild mushrooms such as oyster, chanterelle, or porcini, trimmed and sliced len 1 large garlic clove minced 3/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1/2 pound dried egg fettuccine 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon zest 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Instructions
Accompaniment: grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Soak dried mushrooms in boiling-hot water in a bowl until softened, about 20 minutes. Drain in a paper-towel-lined sieve set over a bowl and reserve soaking liquid, then rinse soaked mushrooms. Pat dry and finely chop.

Heat 3 tablespoons butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then sauté fresh mushrooms with garlic, salt, and pepper, stirring occasionally, until liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated and mushrooms are browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in chopped soaked mushrooms and reserved mushroom-soaking liquid and simmer 1 minute, then remove from heat.

Cook pasta in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water until al dente, about 5 minutes. Ladle out and reserve 1/4 cup pasta cooking water. Drain pasta in a colander, then add it to mushrooms in skillet. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter and cook over moderately high heat, tossing and adding some pasta-cooking liquid if necessary to lightly coat, 1 minute. Add chives, parsley, lemon zest, and juice, then toss well. Serve immediately with cheese and pepper to taste.


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Yields: 6 Servings
     Gourmet magazine, September 2006, page 82

notes:  Fresh hen-of-the-woods, beech (also called shimeji), or any other wild mushrooms can be substituted for the mixed fresh wild mushrooms.

I thought this dish was delicious, but of course I really love mushrooms. I used a dried wild mushroom mixture as well as fresh cremini, shitake and oyster mushrooms. I pretty much cooked as directed except I used 3 large cloves of garlic rather than just one; I used a tiny bit extra coarsely ground black pepper, which added a little zip; and I used 2 or 3 times the amount of lemon juice called for. This dish is kind of expensive but totally worth it when you've got a hankering for a pasta dish that's just a little bit more refined than the usual pasta dish.

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