madbaker | Do Not Pass Sugo

This week's Resolution Recipe: Mushroom Sugo.
"I discovered I wasn’t using nearly enough wine or cream when I stewed mushrooms... there is constantly a quart of mushroom sugo in my refrigerator at home, to be used in any number of applications."

1 large carrot, roughly chopped
1 celery stalk, ditto
1 onion, ditto ditto
no garlic (Ha! I used... more.)
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 cup water
salt and pepper
2 lbs mushrooms, quartered (I used half white and half brown.)
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
1 1/2 cups cream (See what didn't work)
1 Tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
chopped parsley to garnish

Make the mirepoix: in a fud processor, pulse carrots, celery, garlic, and onion to finely chop. In a large, heavy skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in mirepoix, water, and 1 1/2 tsp salt. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until liquid evaporates and veg are tender, about 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, pulse half the mushrooms in the fud processor to finely chop. Quarter remaining mushrooms. Once the mirepoix is tender, add all mushrooms and wine, and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is almost gone, 15-20 minutes. Stir in cream and thyme, and simmer until reduced by half, 8-10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve over pasta, polenta, toasts, or whatever sounds like a delicious match for this sugo. Garnish with parsley.

What worked: Not surprisingly, this was delicious - basically a soupy mushroom pâté. I couldn't taste the garlic but I am sure it added depth; besides, why wouldn't I?
We had it over gnocchi and I suspect pasta will be our go-to, but I could see how many things would work. Even a breakfast omelette.

What didn't: Our usual dairy vendor didn't bring any cream, so I used half-and-half. That left the sugo a bit soupier than it probably should have been even with additional cooking time.

Will I make it again? Certainly; I wouldn't mind having it as an emergency sauce. Not for a bit, as we have a fair amount of leftovers in the freezer.