Pasta with Mushrooms & Onions

This is a super easy and comforting dish for these early Fall nights.  Delicious with a glass of red wine and side salad to brighten things up.  Perhaps a sprinkle of finely chopped parsley would have been nice as well.  

Serves 6
6 tablespoons (¾ stick) butter
4 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced
2 pounds mushrooms (i used baby bellas)
Salt & pepper
Freshly ground pepper (plus a little cayenne)
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg (i omitted this time)
1 cup heavy cream (i used half/half)
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 pound spaghetti or linguine (i used strozzapreti)

We also added a few drops of white truffle oil to our bowls, yum, but tasty either way.

 

Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large heavy skillet. Sauté onions, stirring frequently, over medium heat, 5 minutes or until golden. Lower the heat to lowest possible. Cover the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes. The onions must be very soft, but not browned.

While the onions are cooking, wash and drain the mushrooms. Cut off the tip of the stem and slice the mushrooms thinly lengthwise, including the stem. Heat the remaining butter in another skillet. Sauté the mushrooms in it, stirring frequently over medium heat until soft. Add the mushrooms to the onions. Season with salt & pepper to taste and stir in the nutmeg. Mix well. Keep the sauce hot over lowest possible heat, while the spaghetti is cooking.

Five minutes before serving, add the cream to the sauce. Stir well and heat through. Do not boil or the sauce will curdle. Drain the pasta and place in a serving dish (or add the pasta straight to the pan, but remove from the pan to prevent drying out). Pour the sauce over the pasta; toss thoroughly. Serve immediately with grated Parmesan cheese on the side (option:  add a few truffle oil drops).