The Wall St. Journal had an effusive article about mushroom sugo, a signature mushroom sauce of the Finnbar restaurant in Frenchtown, NJ.  I made the recipe with a modest substitution of 8 oz. of leftover Thanksgiving turkey for 8 oz. of mushrooms.  I thought the turkey benefited the dish, but it could be eliminated (or increased).  I think the key point is to have 24 oz. in total of mushrooms and  turkey or chicken.

This takes about 45 minutes to prepare and will make 8 servings for us as a pasta sauce.

1 large carrot, peeled and roughly chopped

1 celery stalk, roughly chopped

1 large onion, roughly chopped

4 Tbs. unsalted butter

1 cup water

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

24 oz. button mushrooms

8 oz. cooked turkey, in small pieces

1.5 cups dry white wine

1.5 cups heavy cream

1 Tbs. fresh thyme

Seasoning to taste (I used 1 tsp. fish sauce and 1 tsp. mushroom ketchup – See Note Below)

Chopped parsley to garnish (I forgot to add the garnish)

In a food processor, pulse the carrots, celery, and onion until finely chopped. 

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the chopped vegetables, water, and 1.5 tsp. salt.  Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated and the vegetables are tender, about 12 minutes.

While the vegetables are cooking, pulse half of the mushrooms in the food processor until finely chopped, and quarter the rest.    When the vegetables are tender, add all the mushrooms to the skillet with the wine and bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.  Cook, stirring occasionally  until the liquid is almost gone, about 15-20 minutes.  Stir in the cream and thyme and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is reduced in half.  Check seasoning and garnish with fresh parsley.  Serve with pasta or another starch.

Note – Mushroom ketchup is an old-fashioned condiment, which has the same consistency and similar taste to Worcestershire sauce.  I had read about it in old books and bought some from England on line.  The word “ketchup” originally meant “sauce”.