Mushroom Pasta
Mushroom pasta is a delicious and easy-to-make dish that combines the earthy flavor of mushrooms with the comforting taste of pasta. Here's a recipe to make mushroom pasta at home.
This mushroom pasta is incredibly succulent and far from being dry or lackluster, despite not being prepared with a tomato or cream-based sauce, unlike the Creamy Mushroom Pasta. It boasts a rich buttery and garlicky flavor and represents the epitome of simplicity with its impressive six-ingredient recipe.
Mushroom Pasta
If you've ever sautéed mushrooms, you know that the bottom layer tends to soak up all the oil while leaving the top layer dry. To combat this issue, I used to resort to using excessive amounts of butter or olive oil to sauté the mushrooms. While the mushrooms release moisture as they cook, that first layer of mushrooms always seemed to soak up all the butter, leaving the rest of the mushrooms without any.
To achieve an evenly buttery sautéed mushroom, I found a solution that involves reducing the amount of melted butter in the skillet and adding a small amount of olive oil to prevent the butter from burning while speeding up the browning of the mushrooms. Once the mushrooms turn golden and have released their water, I add a small knob of butter to the pan. This approach ensures that the mushrooms are no longer "butter-sponges" and are cooked to perfection.
What you need for mushroom pasta
To prepare this mushroom pasta, you'll need some long or short strand pasta of your choice (such as orecchiette, penne, ziti, or macaroni). Don't just reserve the parmesan for serving, though. Tossing the pasta with parmesan before serving is a clever technique that I love to employ for an additional burst of flavor!
How to make mushroom spaghetti
To achieve the perfect buttery mushroom spaghetti, two crucial steps must be followed:
Delay the addition of butter - Reserve some butter to add after the mushrooms have turned golden. This will result in incredibly buttery mushrooms with less butter used overall.
Use pasta cooking water - When tossing the spaghetti and mushrooms together, include some of the pasta cooking water. The starch present in the water will mix with the butter in the mushrooms to create a smooth and transparent "sauce" that clings to the pasta strands. This technique is a classic in Italian cooking and is used for all types of pasta.
By following this key step of combining the pasta with the pasta cooking water, the result will be a mushroom pasta that appears to have a sauce. The dish will be exceptionally juicy and "saucy," leaving people to believe that you created a mushroom pasta sauce.
I can't stress enough how juicy and luscious this pasta is! It's difficult to convey this in photographs, and I fear that people might overlook pasta like this one that doesn't have a big pot of sauce and assumes that it's dry and bland. However, in reality, this pasta is the polar opposite of that!
If you want to incorporate more greens into your meal, I suggest pairing this pasta with a classic rocket/arugula salad with balsamic dressing. Alternatively, a succulent tomato salad, a refreshing cucumber salad, or a vegetable side dish of your choice from my collection would all be excellent additions.
Nagi x
P.S. If you're in the mood for a special Italian pasta dinner, I highly recommend serving garlic bread or cheesy garlic bread as a side dish, and ending the meal with tiramisu for sheer perfection!
Watch How To Make It
Ingredients
CHOOSE PASTA
▢200g / 7 oz short pasta like orecchiette, penne, macaroni (Note 1)
▢160g/6 oz long pasta - spaghetti, fettucine (Note 1)
GARLIC BUTTER MUSHROOMS FOR PASTA
▢400g / 14 oz mushrooms , sliced 1/2 cm / 1/5" thick (Note 2)
▢50g / 3 tbsp unsalted butter , separated
▢1 tbsp olive oil
▢2 garlic cloves , finely minced
▢1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
▢1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese (or 1/4 cup store bought grated)
TO SERVE
▢Parsley , finely chopped
▢Parmesan cheese , grated
Instructions
PASTA
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Add the pasta into the pot when you start cooking the mushrooms.
Cook pasta per packet instructions minus 1 minute. RESERVE 1 mugful of pasta cooking liquid, then drain pasta.
MUSHROOMS
Melt half butter and all oil in a large skillet over heat.
Add mushrooms and cook until water has leeched then evaporated, and the mushrooms start to turn golden around edges - around 5 minutes.
Halfway through cooking, add salt & pepper.
Add garlic and remaining butter, cook for 2 minutes until mushrooms and garlic are golden.
Add pasta, about 3/4 cup of reserved pasta water and parmesan. Toss gently or until water reduces and thickens into a saucy glaze that coats the pasta. If the pasta dries out, add more pasta water.
Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.
Remove from stove and serve immediately, garnished with fresh parsley and parmesan cheese.
Recipe Notes:
1. Pasta - you need slightly more if using short pasta for equivalent serving size. Pictured in post: spaghetti and orecchiette.
Orecchiette are shaped like mini bowls and are sold at all major supermarkets in Australia, same price as more common pastas. I like using them for mushroom pasta because I like to scoop up the pasta with the mushrooms - also fabulous with this Sausage Pasta in creamy tomato sauce.
2. Mushrooms - any slicable type fine here. Fabulous with plain button mushrooms, extra good with Swiss Brown/Cremini.
3. Variations: Thyme also goes really well with this pasta because mushrooms + thyme = best mates. Sometimes I will add a splash of cream to the mushrooms, but it's not a make or break, just a "nice to have when you're feeling indulgent".
4. Butter - I provide a range for butter quantities because - well, the more the better. But the minimum is 2 tbsp of butter + 1 tbsp olive oil, otherwise the pasta starts to get dry. No need to measure accurately, just eye ball it!
5. Reheating - Pasta always dries out when refrigerated overnight. For the best reheating option, reserve about 1/4 cup of pasta cooking water. Sprinkle cold pasta with 2 tbsp, then microwave reheat, toss well. Resurrected to near perfect juiciness!
6. Nutrition per serving, assuming 2 (generous!) servings.
NUTRITION INFORMATION:
Serving: 352gCalories: 583cal (29%)Carbohydrates: 64.9g (22%)Protein: 25.5g (51%)Fat: 26.7g (41%)Saturated Fat: 12.2g (76%)Cholesterol: 121mg (40%)Sodium: 352mg (15%)Potassium: 791mg (23%)Fiber: 2.4g (10%)Sugar: 4.2g (5%)Vitamin A: 600IU (12%)Vitamin C: 10.7mg (13%)Calcium: 230mg (23%)Iron: 8.5mg (47%)
