Rich earthy mushrooms are cooked with onions, garlic and red wine and then finished with mustard, paprika and cashew sour cream — the end result is one deliciously creamy pasta dish.
To start this dish, first gather and prepare your mise en place. Including the making of the Cashew Sour Cream, if you don’t already have some made. Alternatively, you could buy a non-diary sour cream – just note that this recipe was tested with the cashew sour cream, so the results may vary slightly.
*Note For the cremini mushrooms, don’t slice them too thinly as a bit of thickness provides the dish with a nice bite. For the portobello mushrooms, remove the dark gills before slicing. To slice the mushrooms, cut into 1" wide slices and then slice across to cut into small pieces. For the amounts of each mushroom, you don’t have to be too exact. You are just looking for roughly 6 or 7 cups of mushrooms.
At this point, you may also want to put on your pasta water (see step 3).
To start the dish, heat a large fry-pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, add 1 tablespoon of the non-dairy butter and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, followed by the onions. Sauté the onions for about 8 to 10 minutes, or until they start to caramelize and become translucent.
Next, add the garlic and continue to sauté 30 seconds, or until fragrant. At this point, remove the onion mixture from the pan and set aside while you cook the mushrooms.
In the same fry pan, heat the remaining butter and olive oil and add the mushrooms. Sauté the mushrooms for about 8 to 10 minutes, or until all of their moisture has released and evaporated.
Next, deglaze with the wine and cook until it evaporates. Next, add the onion mixture back to the fry pan and stir to combine.
At this point, you may want to start cooking the pasta, if you have not already.
To cook the pasta—if you have not already—bring a large pot of cold water to a boil.
Once the water has come to a boil, add the salt and stir. With the water at a rumbling boil, add the pasta. Stir to make sure it doesn’t stick together.
Cook the pasta according to the directions. Once it is just al-dente, reserve 1 cup of the cooking water and then drain the pasta.
*Note: While almost any heartier pasta would work for this dish the farfalle noodles go particularly well as they help to capture the sauce and provide a nice bite at the same time.
It’s best to time the finishing of the sauce and the cooking of the pasta so that they are done around the same time — so if your pasta is not quite done yet, hold off on finishing the sauce/dish until the pasta is almost fully cooked.
To finish the dish, mix together the cornstarch and stock.
*Note: for the stock, it is best to use a “”/recipes/2332/text">Dark Roasted Vegetable Stock. Another product that works well in terms of flavor and color is the No-Beef Beef Bouillon.
Next, add the stock and cornstarch mixture to the fry pan with the mushrooms and onions and bring to a gentle simmer. Stir frequently, and let simmer for a few minutes, to cook out the starch flavor.
Then add the mustard powder, paprika, Worcestershire sauce and sour cream. At this point, if the sauce seems a bit too thick, add some of the reserved pasta water, until you reach a nice sauce-like consistency.
Taste for seasoning, adjusting the salt, pepper and dry mustard powder to taste.
Once done, pour the mushroom sauce over the drained pasta and gentle fold everything together. Portion into warmed bowls and garnish with the pickles, parsley and a drizzle with some additional sour cream. Serve immediately.
**Note: Cornichons, also known as gherkins, are about an inch and half in length and less than a quarter inch in diameter. They tart and crunchy. If you cannot find cornichons, then use another tart, crunchy pickle instead.