Try this Boozy Mushroom Gorgonzola Sauce as an accompaniment to steak or roasted chicken or on top of mashed potatoes or polenta!

When my husband and I were dating, one of our favorite places for an awesome dinner was an Italian eatery in St. Louis (where we lived at the time) called Trattoria Marcella. Everything on the menu was amazing. We know. We tried it all. They are still serving locals and tourists today. If you’re in the neighborhood, stop by and try the Grilled Beef Tenderloin, their Risotto or the Fritto Misto served on a bed of flash fried spinach — that’s right, I said fried — it’s so good.

The one item from their menu that has stayed with me since the first time I devoured it is the Roasted Wild Mushrooms served with Polenta Fries and Marsala Sauce. I have tried to recreate the dish in its entirety and the various elements on their own (there was an incident with polenta fries that I shan’t discuss). I nearly nailed the Marsala sauce…once.

We had some leftover creamy polenta in the fridge I wanted to reuse for a meatless meal when I had a flashback of that dish. Surely I’d written down how I’d recreated the sauce, so I rifled through old notebooks in search of some scrawling to help me out. But no. Nothing.

Time to get back to basics — what do I need for this reduction? Marsala. Obvi. And, I figured some stock and red wine couldn’t hurt. For some reason, gorgonzola stuck with me, too. Add shallot and wild mushrooms, and we are good to go.

I can’t claim this is anything like Trattoria Marcella’s Marsala Sauce, but it was delish over creamy polenta & sautéed spinach. Give it a try and tell me what you think!

More Vegetarian Friendly Recipes!

This recipe would be delish over Roasted Garlic + Mascarpone Mashed Potatoes
Curried Butternut Squash + Granny Smith Soup
Creamy Roasted Cauliflower Pasta Bake
Kimchi Grilled Cheese

Plate of polenta and boozy mushroom sauce

Ingredients

1 ½ tbsp olive oil divided
1 tbsp unsalted butter
8 oz wild mushrooms sliced
1 shallot minced
¾ cup Marsala wine
¾ cup red wine
¾ cup vegetable broth
⅓ cup gorgonzola crumbled

Instructions

Heat a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 tbsp olive oil and butter. Once the butter has melted, add the mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 10 to 15 minutes depending on the level of doneness you desire. Remove the mushrooms to a plate.
Return the pan to medium heat. Add the remaining 1/2 tbsp of olive oil to the pan. Gently sauté the shallots until translucent. Add the marsala, red wine and broth. Increase heat to medium-high and reduce by half. (I prefer the sauce to be smooth, so I strain the shallots at this point, but you can leave them in.) Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Once reduced, add the gorgonzola and stir until melted. Return the mushrooms to the pan and toss them in the sauce.