Grilled salmon with spinach linguine & a mushroom-herb ragout

• 6 six-ounce pieces salmon fillet, boneless and skinless
• vegetable oil
• salt and pepper
• ¼ cup butter
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 large shallots, peeled and minced
• ½ lb. regular mushrooms, cleaned, trimmed, and thinly sliced
• ½ lb. wild mushrooms, cleaned, trimmed, and roughly cut up (try chanterelle, morel, hedgehog, etc.)
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 2 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
• salt and pepper, to taste
• ½ cup chopped fresh herbs (thyme, sage, parsley, rosemary, etc.)
• 1 lb. hot cooked spinach linguine
• fresh herb sprigs or leaves, for garnish

Prepare the ragout: Heat the butter and olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Add the shallots and sauté until they begin to turn golden, and then add the regular mushrooms to the pan. Sauté the regular mushrooms until they are deeply golden, and then add the wild mushrooms to the pan. Reduce heat to low and cook the mushroom mixture until the wild mushrooms are fully cooked. Add the wine to the pan, increase heat to medium and reduce by half. Add the chicken stock to the pan and simmer till sauce reduces by half. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and then add the herbs. Turn off flame and cover sauce while salmon is prepared.

Brush salmon pieces all over with the oil. Sprinkle them generously with salt and pepper. Place them on a prepared grill over medium hot flame or coals. Grill for 3 to 4 minutes on the meat side or till nicely marked. Turn salmon pieces over to skin side and finish cooking to desired doneness, approximately 4 to 5 minutes depending on thickness of fillets. Remove salmon from grill, cover lightly with foil and set aside while serving plates are prepared.

Gently reheat ragout. Place even amounts of hot cooked linguine onto 6 heated serving plates. Pour a generous ladleful of ragout over each plate of pasta, then place a piece of salmon on top of each plate. Garnish with fresh herb sprigs and serve immediately. Makes 6 servings.