My version of mushroom duxelle

Mushroom duxelle-- or cooked mushroom paste --is a dish I serve frequently at my dinner parties, but I kind of cobbled together my own process for making it that is slightly different than traditional recipes. I'd thought I'd mark it down here, as it is one of my earliest efforts in devising recipes of my own.

Ingredients:

- 2 tablespoons butter
- 15 ounces of any kind of mushrooms you like; I prefer a wild mix or porcini
- 1 cup chopped shallots
- 1 cup marsala wine
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme

Directions:

Cut the mushrooms into slices. Chop the shallots. Roughly is sufficient.

Heat the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the shallots until softened and translucent. Add the mushrooms and cook until slightly browned and soft. You may have to add them in waves to avoid overcrowding the pan. Add the thyme and stir to distribute evenly. Pour in the marsala, bring to a simmer, then turn the heat down a little. Simmer until the wine reduces to less than half.

Remove the mixture from the pan. Blend into a rough paste with a stick blender. Mix to even out the chunks.

Serve with toasted bread and knives to spread it with. Don't be surprised if guests skip the bread and just eat it with a spoon.

I like the slight variations of including the marsala-- really ups the flavor and gives it a lot of richness --during the saute, and then pureeing it with the immersion blender at the end rather than chopping everything finely before you cook it.

If you want, you can use oil instead of butter to make it non-dairy. Also, onions or leeks will serve in place of shallots.