Sauces are perhaps my favorite type of food to cook. They can be so versatile in flavor and texture. They liven up ordinary ingredients. This velvety lemon mushroom sauce can be used as an ingredient in many recipes, simply poured over a bowl of pasta, or served aside a warm cut of meat or a bowl of dark green vegetables. This would also work quite well as the liquid in a casserole.

Don’t be deceived by the seemingly “light” nature of lemon sauces. This sauce is thick and flavorful, and personally, I enjoy it quite often paired with a robust red wine despite general wine pairing conventions (put very simply: dark sauce = red wine, light sauce = white wine).

This recipe was adapted from one of the first dishes my mother ever taught me to make. Her dish is a bit more like a lemony soup into which she adds Syrian meatballs (among other slight differences), and we eat it over rice.

Recipe: Lemon Mushroom Sauce

Makes 3-4 servings

• 1 cup of onion, julienne chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2 tbs flour
• 1 1/2 cup sliced portobello mushroom (1 medium sized cap), or baby bella, white mushroom, etc.
• 1/4-1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1 cup white wine
• 1/2 cup water, vegetable or chicken broth
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil until the onion becomes translucent.
2. Sprinkle the flour lightly over the contents of the pan. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon, forming a roux on the onions with the flour and oil, as in step 3 of the Syrian Lemon and Olive chicken.
3. When the roux begins to brown, add the lemon juice and stir constantly to loosen the bits of roux from the onions so that they dissolve into the juice.
4. Add the mushrooms. Coat with the liquids and allow to saute.
5. Add the wine. Turn up the heat slightly and allow the contents of the pan to come to a simmer. Stir gently to allow the sauce to gel. The sauce will get thicker as the roux takes hold and as the water evaporates.
6. Add the broth, stir, and allow the mixture to reach a consistency slightly thinner than you would like. Turn off the heat. The sauce will thicken further as it cools so you do not need to cook it until it is very thick.
7. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Give it one last stir. Taste the velvety deliciousness. Serve warm and enjoy.

See also: Velvet Lemon Pasta Sauce, Revisited (an even simpler version with fewer ingredients)