Browned Butter Mushroom Ravioli with Sage

Browned Butter Mushroom Ravioli with Sage - TheMessyBaker.com

Browned Butter Mushroom Ravioli with Sage

King Oyster Mushroom grown from a kit - TheMessyBaker.com

This ruffled plant is not a flower. It’s a King Oyster mushroom. I grew it from a kit I got at the Food Bloggers of Canada Conference back in February. The kits, courtesy of Mushrooms Canada, are intended for kids. It says so right on the box. Since I don’t have any, I grew the mushrooms myself. Properly grown, the resulting mushrooms should be large, soft beige with dramatic orchid-like ruffles edged with brown.

King Oyster Mushroom - TheMessyBaker.cpm

Beautiful as these mushrooms are, they reinforce the fact I should not be in charge of any living thing that isn’t capable of complaining. Loudly.

The mushrooms shown above are growing from the top of the box, not the big hole in its middle, as the kit creators intended. This is the kit’s second crop, and I suspect the fungi are making a break for freedom having witnessed the neglect of their predecessors.

What happened to the inaugural harvest? Like me, they started out gungho. There were twice daily mistings, a stunning growth spurt, celebratory Instagram photos and then… I got distracted.

In my defence, it’s not like they alerted me to the issue. Instead, they took it like the stalwart fungi they are and quietly withdrew.

King Oyster Mushrooms grow from a kit despite my neglect - TheMessyBaker.com

If a licence were required to grow these, I’d have to give it back.

But mushrooms are accommodating. They can grow in the dark or the light. They like moisture, but aren’t wimps about it like whingy celery or — heaven forbid — sulky lettuce. Having recently toured a mushroom farm, I knew what to do. Murray Good, owner Whitecrest Mushrooms, wasn’t lying when he told me to rehydrate dried out mushrooms in a bit of water. So I did. And within an hour my sad, leathery king oysters had doubled in size and returned to their original soft, ruffly state.

I was so excited I didn’t take a photo. I made mushroom ravioli instead.

I augemented my homegrown king oysters with an equal amount of cremini, which I had bought from the store and inadvertently dried out in the fridge in their brown paper bag. Sometimes I wonder why I bothered buying a dehydrator. I seem to be doing just fine without one.

A bit of sage from the garden, some tender, freshly rolled homemade pasta (which I didn’t dry out) and some dairy came together in a lovely loose pasta dinner worthy of a King Oyster Mushroom.

Browned Butter Mushroom Ravioli with Sage - TheMessyBaker.com

 

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Browned Butter Mushroom Ravioli with Sage

This open ravioli is easy to assemble. Unlike the familiar pasta pocket version, this is bursting with mushrooms. A hint of cream, sage-infused brown butter and Parmesan do the rest.

  • Author: Charmian Christie
  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Cook Time: 15 mins
  • Total Time: 30 mins
  • Yield: 4 1x
  • Category: Main Dish

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 4 large sage leaves, whole (8 small is fine, too)
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 4 cups sliced mushrooms (about 1/4-inch thick)
  • 1 pinch fine sea salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 sprigs thyme, leaves removed (lemon thyme is lovely if you grow it)
  • 2 tablespoons heavy cream (35%)
  • 8 sheets pasta sheets, fresh is best but dried will do (about 4 inches square)
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Instructions

  1. Put water onto boil: Put a large pot of lightly salted water on to boil for the pasta.
  2. Make the sage browned butter: In a shallow skillet, melt the butter over medium high heat. Add the sage leaves. Cook, swirling the pan occasionally, until the butter turns brown and smells like toasted almonds. The sage should become crisp but not burned. Remove skillet from the heat. Place the sage leaves on a couple layers of paper towel to drain. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the browned butter for later.
  3. Make the mushroom filling: Return skillet to medium heat. Sautée the garlic in the browned sage butter until it becomes soft. Add the mushrooms and increase the heat to medium-high, adding a pinch of sea salt and a generous grinding of fresh black pepper. Cook the mushrooms until soft, about 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the thyme and cream, and cook until the cream has thickened a bit, about 2 minutes. Keep warm on low while you tend to the pasta.
  4. Cook the pasta: When the water reaches a full, rolling boil, cook the pasta to the al dente stage. Timing varies depending on whether you are using fresh or dried pasta. Drain the pasta being careful not to tear it. Torn sheets can be used as the bottom layer, so don’t tell anyone if a sheet or two rips a bit.
  5. Assemble the ravioli: Set out four plates and place one sheet of pasta in the middle of each. Spoon 1/4 of the mushroom mixture on eat sheet of pasta and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of Parmesan. Top with a second sheet of pasta. Drizzle with some of the browned butter. Garnish with a fried sage leaf. A dusting of more freshly ground pepper is nice, not not necessary. Serve immediately.

Notes

This recipe was inspired by French Taste: Elegant Everyday Eating by Laura Calder. (HarperCollins Canada ©2009).

Did you make this recipe?

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9 Comments
  • NS Foster
    Posted at 15:18h, 11 July

    SO HAPPY YOU POSTED THIS. I’ve been thinking about it ever since I saw the photo on FB.

  • Charmian Christie
    Posted at 16:57h, 11 July

    Sorry to have kept you waiting! Hope you like the results. You should help yourself to an extra serving for being so patient.

  • Mushrooms Canada
    Posted at 15:07h, 15 July

    Absolutely mouthwatering! I love that you soaked the mushrooms to give them life again- it’s a great tip. Thanks for sharing this recipe Charmian…

    -Shannon

  • My Little Home and Garden
    Posted at 18:55h, 04 August

    The ravioli looks fantastic!

  • Charmian Christie
    Posted at 10:47h, 06 August

    Thanks. It’s a lot less work, too. I really like that you get more filling than pasta.

  • Pingback:Interview: Charmian from The Messy Baker - Snappy Gourmet
    Posted at 16:54h, 10 November

    […] My lazy streak came in handy. It lead to open-faced Browned Butter Mushroom Ravioli. […]

  • Dr. Tarek Fakhuri
    Posted at 14:29h, 04 June

    I have to tell you this is the most exotic mushroom recipe I have come across all day. Definitely trying this out for myself and sharing the recipe with my friends and family.

  • Charmian Christie
    Posted at 09:45h, 05 June

    Thanks for taking the time to comment. I’m not sure how healthy this recipe is – with all the butter– but it is tasty. Hope you enjoy it!

  • Joe Bruno
    Posted at 00:05h, 06 April

    If it’s not something cooked inside a sealed pasta pocket it’s not ravioli, Why warp the words? Nevertheless it could be tasty just the same, especially you used all good ingredients.