Gourmet cooking for one: Pappardelle with wild mushroom ragout and truffle oil!

Who says you can't eat well when you're cooking for yourself?  Elliott's playing a show tonight which leaves me to fend for myself.  I had a lot of leftover parsley and tomato paste, so I concocted this delicious dish.  All I had to do was keep the portion size down to a minimum.  The mix of mushrooms give a lovely woody almost meaty flavor and texture without using any meat at all.

Quick list of ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 small spanish onion diced
1 clove garlic crushed
1 cup warm water
2-3 tablespoons dried porcini mushrooms (these are hard to measure when dried, use your own discretion)
1 cup chopped mushrooms (I used shiitake and crimini)
4 tablespoons tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1 pinch dried thyme leaves (or more if you like, I tend to not like a ton of thyme)
1/4 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
fresh or dried pappardelle pasta
Salt and pepper to taste
Grated parmesan for serving
Truffle oil for serving (white or black whichever you prefer)

First thing you need to do is reconstitute the porcini mushrooms.  In a bowl filled with the warm water, soak the mushrooms for a half hour.  While this is happening, remove the stems from the mushrooms and wipe them of any visible dirt with a damp cloth.  Chop the mushrooms into small pieces.  When the porcinis are done soaking, squeeze them of excess liquid and chop them.  Don't throw away the soaking liquid, you'll need it later.  It is also helpful to pour the reserved liquid through a coffee filter, as there is usually some grit at the bottom of the bowl.  Not delicious.

Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan, and add the onions.  Sautee about two minutes, then add the garlic.  Sautee until garlic is fragrant, but not browned.  Add in the mushrooms, and a pinch of sea salt to allow the mushrooms to release their liquid.  Allow these to cook for ten minutes or so.  They should be very soft and reduced by half.  Add the tomato paste, porcini liquid, bay leaf and thyme.  Simmer the mixture uncovered for about 20 minutes.  The sauce needs to thicken and reduce in that time.  Stir occasionally.

 

When the sauce is thickened enough, add the cream and parsley.  Meanwhile boil a pot of water for your pasta.  The cream will turn your ragout into a lovely silky sauce.  Continue cooking the sauce for another ten minutes or so, just enough time to cook the pappardelle.

 
Spoon your lovely mixture atop the pappardelle, drizzle with a bit of truffle oil and sprinkle with the parmesan cheese.  Serve with a green salad because you need to eat your veggies.  Yum.

Elliott can have pizza tonight.