Dinner tonight... Pasta with Mixed Mushrooms and Thyme

This week, Mr. Fritz is on a business trip to a tropical place. So I'm taking the opportunity to cook for friends, and tonight the very fun Ms. Rowings joined me for dinner. Since she's a vegetarian, I made a simple, tasty meatless meal for us: Pasta with Mixed Mushrooms and Thyme.

To prepare it, you saute a minced shallot in a little bit of butter, then add some white wine and let that reduce. From there, you add thinly sliced shitake and button mushrooms to the pan along with some fresh thyme. Once the mushrooms have softened, you add them to freshly cooked (and drained) pasta, and mix in some Parmesan cheese and a little more butter. Yum. Oh, and we balanced the decadence of the pasta with a salad of greens dressed in olive oil and lemon juice.

Notes: I skipped the step that involved dried porcini mushrooms, because I couldn't find them at the grocery store. I also minced a couple of shallots instead of just one, and I think that added to the flavor in a positive way. And finally, I can't remember if I've mentioned this or not yet, but my new favorite thing is individual mini-bottles of wine -- they are each about a cup and you can buy them in four-packs. They're perfect, in my opinion, for cooking, since you'll rarely need more than a cup of wine for any recipe. Plus, they have screw caps (how gauche, I know...) if you only need a small amount, so reclosing isn't difficult.

PS: Mr. Fritz took the camera to the tropical place (I insisted), so no photos this week. Sorry!