Mushroom sauce

There are many versions of this sauce. Because the wild season in short, you may be obliged to use cultivated mushrooms, although these do not give the same depth of taste. Below are two versions of sauces with mushrooms, one white and one red.

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 25 g (1 oz) dried porcini mushrooms or mixed with dried morels
• 150 ml (5 fl oz) tepid water
• 8 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 spring rosemary
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 400 g (14 oz) fresh mushrooms (e.g. field, hedgehog and oyster), cut into bite sized pieces
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Ingredients for the white sauce:

• 15 g (1/2 oz) butter

Ingredients for the red sauce:

• 2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 4 tbsp passata or chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp tomato purée

Preparation:

Soak the dried mushrooms in the tepid water for 30 minutes and squeeze dry, reserving the soaking liquor. Heat the oil and fry the rosemary and garlic for 20 seconds. If you are making the red sauce, add the extra oil at this point. Add the fresh mushrooms and soaked dried mushrooms and continue to cook for 15 minutes, stirring from time to time. For the white sauce, stir in the soaking liquor and the butter and cook for further 15 minutes. Serve with pasta, rice or on meat scaloppine. For the red sauce, stir in the passata or chopped tomatoes and the tomato purée and cook over moderate heat for a further 15-20 minutes. Serve with polenta.