Tagliatelle with Mushroom Ragù

In this recipe, earthy mushrooms create an elegant, flavor-filled vegetarian ragù with an amazingly rich, concentrated taste and texture. Fresh mushrooms provide the bulk; we like a mix of cremini, oyster and shiitake, but feel free to use your favorites. And to boost the umami factor, we include dried porcini mushrooms along with their soaking liquid, then store-bought mushroom broth (or vegetable broth) and a dash of soy sauce enhance the savoriness even more. (The soy sauce might seem out of place here, but it disappears into the ragù.) A food processor makes quick work of chopping the fresh mushrooms, but if you wish to hone your knife skills, you can prep them by hand. Long noodles such as tagliatelle or fettuccine are a great choice for this dish as the bits of mushrooms will cling to the surface of the noodles. Use fresh pasta if you like; to make your own, try our recipe for homemade egg pasta.