Conchiglie with Brussels sprouts,shitake mushroom white wine sauce

As you'll see, I love Brussels Sprouts. There was a time when I wouldn't even go near one, let alone eat it though. Looking back, I can remember the exact instance where I tried and subsequently changed my opinion on the little baby cabbage like veggies. A friend of mine, who now works at Hearth in New York City, was working at Al Di La Trattoria and following a late work night in which I got try some of their great food, he and I went (I'll have to check on the name) into the city to visit a friend's restaurant. His buddy was the sommelier, so we figured we get some nice wines, a few small plates and be on our way.

As we sipped our wine, my buddy decided to order some carpaccio, a small pizza and a marinated brussels sprouts dish. I looked at him and said "I hate brussels sprouts!!" He scoffed at me, and said, "trust me, you'll like it." A few minutes later, they arrived. I tried one and I was actually afraid to admit how good it was. I actually sent my mom a text message telling her the news (yea, I am serious). After that, I requested a few recipe ideas from my friend on how to cook brussels sprouts for my future cooking endeavors. That brings me to this dish...



This dish is simple, any pasta can be used and the mushrooms could be left out. Here is the simple recipe.





Ingredients:



~ 1/2 Brussels Sprouts

~ 1/2 cup white wine

~ 1/2 cup chicken stock

3-4 pieces fresh thyme and rosemary

2 garlic cloves chopped

~ 6-8 large shitake mushrooms

2 servings Conchiglie (or other pasta)

1 Tbl olive oil

salt

pepper





Prepare sprouts by removing bottom and any wilted outer leaves. Cut sprouts in half and set aside. Remove Mushroom stems and slice caps into strips.



Heat olive oil in large pan to medium. Once hot, add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.



Prepare pot for pasta. Add half of the white wine and chicken stock to pan, along with fresh herbs. Turn up heat to medium/high and reduce by half. Add Brussels sprouts and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add remaining liquid and mushrooms to pan and cover and cook for for 2-3 minutes. Remove cover and reduce heat to medium and cook until liquid is reduced by half again.



Strain pasta and add the Brussels sprout/mushroom sauce on top.



Enjoy!