Recipe – Vegetarian Marsala Pasta

Who doesn’t love Italian cooking? It’s simple, fresh, and filling. Unlike other European cuisines, the focus lies on the ingredients, rather than complex techniques. Marsala sauce, primarily a wine reduction, is one of my favorite dishes in the Italian world, but finding it without veal or chicken in a restaurant is near impossible.

Because I only eat fish and avoid meat, I developed this vegetarian version on a whim. I missed the robust and sweet flavor that comes from the Marsala, a fortified wine similar to a Port or sweet Sherry. This scrumptious sauce is too often forgotten within the lexicon of Italian cooking, and I think it’s a dish that works perfectly with or without meat, although I wouldn’t discourage a hearty filet of salmon or bass on top. With mushrooms for meatiness and spinach for some greenery, my version of this dish will satisfy as a dinner all on its own.

Ingredients

Serves 2

• 8oz of penne, or about half a regular-sized package of rotini or preferred short pasta

• 1 and 1/2 cups Marsala wine, one designated for cooking is best because it won’t be too dry or too sweet

• 1 cup vegetable stock.

• 16oz package of baby bella mushrooms, whole

• 2 shallots

• 3 cloves of garlic

• 2 generous handfuls of baby spinach

• 1 Tbsp dried sage, or 3 fresh sage leaves, plus more to garnish

• 1 tsp of cornstarch

• olive oil

• 2 Tbsp butter

• salt and pepper

• grated or shaved parmesan to serve

Method

1. Cook your pasta according to directions. Salt the boiling water and make sure to add some olive oil so once it is drained and cooled, the pasta won’t stick together. While the water is boiling and the pasta is cooking, begin working on the sauce.

2. Peel shallots and garlic. Finely chop both, although a garlic press is ideal for the garlic if you have one. Set aside. Wash mushrooms and thinly slice. Coarsely chop the spinach.

3. In a large sauté pan, coat bottom with olive oil and melt butter over medium heat. Add shallots. Stir. Add the garlic. Continue stirring and sauté until shallots are translucent and garlic is aromatic, just a couple minutes, if that.

4. Add mushrooms. Continue stirring and cook until mushrooms have browned and excess water has evaporated. Deglaze with vegetable stock and reduce slightly, turning heat up to medium high.

5. Add Marsala wine. Bring back up to a simmer. After a couple minutes, add the spinach, sage, and a couple cracks of pepper. Depending on how wide your pan is and how much water the spinach releases, the sauce could take a while to cook down, 5-10+ minutes.

6. When the sauce has reduced well over halfway and the alcohol has cooked out, add a little bit of the cornstarch and stir. Continue adding cornstarch until the sauce reaches a spoon-coating texture. There shouldn’t exactly be excess sauce, just enough to coat all your pasta. Add salt to taste. If you used fresh sage, make sure to pick out the whole leaves from the sauce.

7. Add your cooked pasta into the pan and toss everything together. Serve with parmesan and more sage. Enjoy!