Creamy Tagliatelle with Beef, Mushrooms & Asparagus

Re-visiting comfort food one more time before summer arrives. Your guide to a rainy day cure… pasta and vino!

Jersey handed me a humble slice of “psyche yeah right!” pie today. As my winter coats started finding their way to hidden crevasses of my guest rooms and my running shorts climbed their way to the top of the pile in my dresser, I barely had time to blink and snow flurries were streaming down from the sky. My heater kicked back on, the fireplace was lit, and the tropical fruit theme has been tossed to the back burner for a few more weeks. Rather than loathe these strikingly low temperatures, I decided to take one more stab at a comfort food concoction. Additionally, my monthly Wine Spectator appeared in the mail with a focus on Piedmont, aka my second home in Italy known for hearty wines and rustic cuisine. My nostalgia kicked in to high gear when thinking of my four month tour through this European hotspot, and I am temporarily willing to disappear to the land of rich pasta dishes. When your 70+ degree weather subsides for a few days and nature bestows its showers upon your neck of the woods, create this recipe as your rainy day comfort food.

Creamy Tagliatelle with Beef, Mushrooms & Asparagus

• 1/2 lb thinly sliced beef
• 16 oz tagliatelle pasta noodles
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1/2 red onion diced
• 8 oz shiitake mushrooms sliced
• 8 stalks of asparagus, ends trimmed, chopped into bite size pieces
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 2-3 tbsp butter
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 heaping tbsp flour
• 2-3 cups whole milk or cream
• salt and pepper to season
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• chopped fresh parsley

In a large pan, coat with tbsp oil. Add beef and cook for a minute or two on each side. Set beef aside. Add more butter and saute onion, garlic, and mushrooms over medium heat. Push to the side  of pan once softened. Add more oil or butter and increase heat. Quickly saute asparagus spears and then take out of pan and combine with beef. Add white wine to garlic, mushroom, and onion mixture. Wait until the liquid is almost completely absorbed and mix in the flour. Pour in the milk and season with salt and pepper. Whisk until a creamy sauce is created. Add in beef, asparagus, and parmesan.

Meanwhile, heat a large pot of water with salt. When boiling, add pasta and cook until al dente.

Serve creamy sauce over egg noodles.

Wine pairing: Dolcetto d’Alba from Piedmont, Italy. A value oriented red varietal with earthy notes complementing mushrooms and beef.