Mushrooms and Parsley

I'm not a big believer in cutting any one thing out of my diet. Going cold turkey on red meat, dairy, or grains to improve health seems like an over simplified solution to a complex problem. But I have tried to curb my reliance on cream and cheese, which led me to this no-cream mushroom sauce.

And I have to say now that I prefer it to any cream-based mushroom sauce I've tried. It's still rich and smooth, but those qualities come from the fungi themselves rather than filler. The original recipe is tweaked from one I found at The Kitchn (mostly to accommodate what I had available in my fridge), and it's absolutely my favorite mushroom sauce.

No-cream Mushroom Sauce
Adapted from The Kitchn

Ingredients
2 8-oz. packages of baby portobello mushrooms, washed and chopped

1 medium yellow onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 c. dry white wine

1 c. chicken, beef, or vegetable stock
2 Tbs. fresh chopped sage (or 2 tsp. ground sage)

2 Tbs. butter
3 Tbs. flour
Fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté onion until caramelized. Add mushrooms and garlic and sauté until mushrooms are browned and liquid is mostly reduced. Add sage, salt, and pepper.

Push mushroom mix to the edges of the skillet, creating an open space the center of the pan. Melt butter in the skillet and whisk in flour, making sure to get all the lumps out. While still whisking, add wine and broth. Turn heat to medium-low and simmer until wine reduces and sauce begins to thicken.

Serve over noodles and sprinkle with fresh parsley (optional, but highly recommended).

Notes

The original recipe calls for multiple types of mushrooms, which I'm sure is tasty, but I've found this dish to be delicious with only portobellos. Sometimes I'll get fancy and splurge on the "exotic blend" at Food Lion, which makes the flavor a little more complex. If you have shallots, like the original recipe-maker, you should use them. I didn't, so I subbed a yellow onion. The original also has you wilt the parsley in the sauce. I opted to leave mine fresh because my parsley plant refuses to succumb to frost, and I think it cuts the richness a little with a sharp, clean bite. I also think a wintery, earthy dish like this tastes best with whole wheat noodles.