Creamy Mushroom Sauce

An amalgam of the other two mushroom sauce recipes on this site that I personalized to make a delicious, hearty pasta sauce. The slightly sour tang of goat cheese makes a wonderful contrast to the earthiness of the mushrooms. I came up with this sauce for my mom, who has difficulty eating high acidity foods, such as tomato sauce, and me, who doesn't feel like eating meat now and again. I used a mix of shitaki, portabello and white mushrooms. note: For variety of texture, slicing the mushrooms into smaller and larger pieces is recommended. To save on prep time, I used a half pound of pre-sliced mushrooms I bought from the grocery store.

• Ready In: 1 hr 30 mins
• Serves: 5-6
• Yields: 20 oz

Ingredients

• 1⁄2 cup unsalted butter
• 1  shallot, minced
• 2  garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1⁄2 lbs  mixed  sliced mushrooms
• 1⁄3 cup vodka or 1⁄3 cup white wine, more to taste
• 1  cup heavy cream
• 1  chicken bouillon cube
• 1  cup  boiled water
• 4  ounces  soft unripened  goat cheese
• 3  tablespoons olive oil
• 1⁄2 lemon
•  salt and pepper, to taste
• 1  teaspoon  mixed Italian herbs, to taste

Directions

1. In a large saucepot, heat the butter gently on medium-low until melted and sauté the minced garlic and shallot until soft.
2. Turn heat up to medium, add mushrooms and a couple pinches of salt to make them sweat, stir.
3. Add the olive oil, continue stirring mushrooms until they're all soft and tender, adding more butter after a few minutes if desired.
4. Squeeze lemon and put juice in with the mushrooms.
5. Combine the hot water, bouillon cube and herbs, stirring until the bouillion is completely dissolved; add to mushrooms.
6. Add heavy cream, goat cheese and vodka or white wine, stirring until cheese is melted and sauce is well blended.
7. Add salt and pepper to taste.
8. Simmer until desired thickness; if stirring constantly on medium-high heat a half hour might do it. I simmered this for about an hour and a half on medium heat and stirred every once in awhile to prevent a skin from forming.
9. Serve with a thicker pasta, like linguini or fettuccine, enjoy!