I know I have told you before, but sometimes a food item, particularly a veggie, can get kind of forgotten in my refrigerator. I think it’s because I am always trying new recipes and I focus on the new ingredients to the shameful neglect of what came before. And that’s exactly what happened when I recently discovered 4 very large button mushrooms lurking at the bottom of my vegetable bin. Poor things; they looked absolutely pathetic just lying there, stem side up in their very own blue polystyrene container from Costco. So what to do with these mushrooms? The frugal cook in me just could not throw them to the Gods of yard-waste. They simply did not deserve that fate! And although I know that mushrooms lose their potency over time, they weren’t slimy, so I considered that good enough.

But then, what to do with them? Well, the same thing I almost always do with an ingredient that needs to be surrounded by compatible flavors to make it more enjoyable. I make a pasta dish.

So that’s exactly what I did, and the recipe below is the result. And all hubris aside, this recipe is very, very good. Easy too! And vegetarian, if you use vegetable stock, which is my first choice for this pasta. (The dish actually tastes a lot like a meatless beef stroganoff.)

So if you need an easy recipe for a weeknight pasta dish your entire family will enjoy, pick yourself up some button mushrooms and put some pasta water on to boil. But remember: don’t cook your pasta ahead of time. If need be, make the sauce wait for your freshly cooked al dente pasta.

You know, now that I mention cooked pasta, I should provide you with my own guidelines for what I consider to be perfectly cooked pasta.

So for those of you who were not born knowing the fine nuances surrounding perfection in pasta cooking, I have listed the steps below. For those of you who already know how to cook perfect pasta, or were born with the knowledge, (like that could ever happen), just ignore my well thought out, well written, and helpful instructions!

• 1 T. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small shallot, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• kosher Salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 8 lg. or 4 very lg. button mushrooms, cut in half and thinly sliced
• ¼ c. dry white wine
• ¼ c. vegetable, beef, or chicken stock
• ½ c. sour cream
• ¼ c. grated Parmesan cheese
• 4 oz. pasta, cooked al dente

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the shallot, season with salt and pepper and cook until soft. Add the garlic and cook for one minute. Add the mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms are tender and starting to brown, stirring occasionally, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the wine and cook until all the liquid evaporates. Add the stock and simmer for one minute. Remove the pan from the heat. Whisk in the sour cream. Drain the pasta, reserving about 1 cup of the pasta water, and add the drained pasta to the sauce. Add the Parmesan. Adjust seasoning. (If the pasta seems too dry, add a small amount of the reserved pasta water.) Serve immediately.

Note: This is the perfect amount for 2 hungry adults. The recipe can be doubled or tripled as needed.

Perfect Pasta:

1)      Use pasta which contains at least some semolina flour

2)      Use a large cooking pot

3)      Add cold water (1 lb. pasta = 5-6 quarts of water) to the pot

4)      Cover the pot and bring the water to a rolling boil.

5)      Add kosher salt (about 1-2 tablespoons per pound of pasta)

6)      Add the pasta all at once

7)      Stir immediately with a wooden spoon to prevent the pasta from sticking together and to the bottom of the pan

8)      Bring the water back to a boil as quickly as possible. Then reduce the heat only enough to prevent the water from boiling over on to your stove top. Do not cover the pan.

9)      Continue to periodically stir the pasta so that it cooks evenly

10)   DO NOT RELY ON THE PACKAGE INSTRUCTIONS FOR ACCURATE COOKING TIME. Taste testing is the only way to know when the pasta is al dente. (Al dente means “to the tooth” in Italian and refers to the fact that the pasta has a slight resistance when you bite into it. The pasta doesn’t have a hard center, nor is it soft.)

11)   If you are using the pasta for a hot dish with a sauce (like this recipe), save about a cup of the cooking water, drain the pasta (don’t rinse) and add it to the sauce and serve immediately. (Or you can place the hot pasta on a plate or in a serving bowl or platter and immediately cover with sauce.)

12)   If you are using the pasta for a cold dish (like my recipe for Shrimp and Macaroni Salad or Tuna Macaroni Salad), drain the pasta and immediately rinse with cold water. (Rinsing the pasta serves to both stop the cooking process and remove the thin coating of starch that can cause it to be sticky when cold. This method also works well for lasagna noodles.)

So, we have just left our beloved Amalfi coast (no scratches on our rental car or permanently frazzled nerves, I am glad to report) and are headed east to visit the Adriatic side of Italy’s boot. It is really difficult to plan how long it will take to reach any given location in Italy because a km can take 60 seconds or 60 minutes depending on the road conditions and terrain. And this leg of our journey was no exception.

After departing at 9:30, we took the Amalfi coast road to Salerno and the autostrada (speed limit 110 – wee hah) which took us east over the Apennine Mountains in the Basilicata region. The Apennine mountains, at least the part we saw were green and hilly (only one jagged ridge visible), becoming drier on the eastern slopes. (Sound familiar?) There was some agriculture, but not the extensive terracing of fruit and olive trees that we had witnessed on earlier vacations in Northern Italy. As we drove along, all of the streams and rivers were overflowing with tumbling brown water from the torrential downpour the entire European continent had experienced a couple of days before. So with fast speed limits and great roads, we basically crossed the “boot” in a few short hours.

We arrived at our hotel at about 1:30 in the afternoon. We put our bags in our room and proceeded downstairs for lunch. In Italy, lunch is usually served between 1:00 and 3:00. As it was only 1:45, we were in luck.

Now let me set the stage for our lunch. The hotel I found on Expedia (great place to book hotels, I might add) was chosen because of its location as a mid-way stop rather than for the many glories of the region. (Had I known how fast we would get across the boot, I would have booked us further toward the Adriatic rather than on the Gulf of Taranto.) But here we were in our unpretentious business class hotel right off the highway with a whole afternoon to fill. So, deciding to fill our tummies before heading out on some type of afternoon adventure, we went down to the eating area.

We were the only patrons and in her best broken English, the waitress explained that there were only a very limited number of items on the menu, especially at lunch time. I can’t even remember what I ordered except to say that it was wonderful, but Mr. Cs Arrabiata was, and I quote “to die for”! Like I said, I don’t even remember what I ordered. What I do remember is stealing pasta off of Andy’s plate with alarming regularity.

After lunch we tried our best to tell our waitress how much we had enjoyed our meal, especially the Arrabiata. She looked at us, got a little twinkle in her eye, turned around and headed for the kitchen. She returned shortly with a stalk of the peppers that had been used in this very spicy dish. She wrote down the name of the peppers, pepperoncini, and broke off a few to give to us. I wanted to keep those peppers so badly, but I knew they would never make it past US customs (the brutes!) So as best we could, we explained how grateful we were for her thoughtfulness, but that we just could not accept her gracious offer.

All the time we’d been in Italy I had wanted to visit a supermercado (grocery store).  So upon receiving driving instructions from the hotel manager, we preceded into “town” to give me the opportunity to see what an Italian home cook in a fairly poor area of Italy has at his/her disposal. Well howdy, if I had that store on Camano Island, I would be one happy camper. The fresh meat, deli meat, cheeses, and produce were amazing and inexpensive. No frozen food cases filled with frozen pizza and TV dinners, just a small case filled with amazing flavors of gelato. Absent also, isle after isle of dried scalloped potatoes packages or canned beef stew. And absolutely no area devoted to soft drinks. But pasta, you want pasta, every shape, size and variety available was at that store. And inexpensive Arborio rice. Sigh! There were some canned goods – tomatoes, cannelloni beans; that type of vegetable. And olives. Oh how I dearly love the green olives in Italy! And of course – spices. I found jars of the regional dried pepperoncini that had been used in the wonderful Arrabiata we had “shared” for lunch.  So of course I had to bring home 4 jars. (I stuffed them in the toe of my shoes so they could safely and cozily survive the long journey to America.) Cookies were the one item that shared about the same amount of space as in an average American grocery store. Italians too love their sweets.

After doing our grocery shopping we drove to the seashore through camera crews, fire fighters and clean-up vehicles and workers. Apparently this part of Italy was especially hard hit by the heavy rain storms. There was so much flooding that all the businesses right by the shore were closed, including the hotels and restaurants. It was very interesting to poke around and witness how beautifully the Italians handled this emergency situation. No heavy handed behavior on the part of the people in charge. Just a general feeling of cooperation and “let’s get the job done”! And if some crazy Americans wanted to drive around and possibly get their tiny Fiat 500 stuck in the mud, so be it!

After a delightful afternoon of seeing the area we headed back to our hotel and yet another delicious meal in the hotel restaurant. Dinner was excellent, but the Arrabiata we enjoyed at lunch and the absolutely charming and cordial hotel staff that treated us as long lost family members made even this rather pedestrian stop a memorable event. Lesson learned: Don’t judge a book by its cover or a business class hotel by its lack of fancy furniture and potted plants in the lobby. You never know what pleasures may await.

• 1 T. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 c. finely chopped yellow onion
• 5 garlic cloves, finely minced
• ½ – 1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• ½ c. red wine (I like Pinot Noir)
• 2 T. brown sugar
• 2 T. chopped fresh basil
• 6-oz. tomato paste (I use Cento brand)
• 2-28oz. cans crushed or whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes* (Use cans of Italian tomatoes, like Cento brand, if possible. And yes, there really is a difference!)
• 1 lb. penne pasta, cooked al dente
• chopped fresh Italian parsley, opt.
• grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan, opt.

Heat olive oil in a medium-large heavy sauce pan. Add onion and cook until transparent. (Don’t let the onion brown.) Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for about a minute or until the garlic smells aromatic. Add the salt, pepper, and wine. Let wine cook until it is all absorbed. Stir in the brown sugar, basil, and tomato paste. Finally add the 2 cans of crushed tomatoes and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and gently simmer uncovered for about 30-40 minutes. Adjust seasoning. Add cooked pasta, sprinkle with parsley; serve immediately. Pass grated cheese.

*If using whole peeled tomatoes, chop them before adding to sauce