A spectacular way to showcase tasty mushrooms – in a simple, juicy, ridiculously delicious Mushroom Pasta! This is 6 ingredient magic at its finest, a pasta made the real proper Italian way. Plus my little trick to make buttery mushrooms without using a whole block of butter!
Mushroom Pasta
Meat-Free Wednesday is back!
I love this time of the year. The weather is warming up, taking Dozer to the beach is actually enjoyable again (ice cold Winter water just doesn’t seem to bother him in the slightest but it certainly bothers ME), and some of my favourite fruits and vegetables are in season which means they’re such great value!
The every-day white button mushrooms are affordable all year round, but actually, they are the least flavourful of all the mushrooms. So spring is when I go mushroom mad, buying multiple brown paper bags stuffed to the brim with Swiss Brown and Portobello Mushrooms when they’re half the price they usually are.
I stuffed giant Portobello Mushrooms with Ricotta and Spinach, topped them with panko and parmesan, then baked them in a garlicky tomato sauce. And as for the Swiss Brown mushrooms – well, I wanted to make something where you can actually really taste the mushrooms, rather than drowning them in loads of creamy sauce. So I opted for this very classic Mushroom Pasta.
I used to think that the best way to sauté mushrooms was with loads and loads of butter or olive oil. Anyone who has pan fried mushrooms will know that the minute mushrooms hit the skillet, the bottom layer of mushrooms soaks up the oil, leaving the top layer untouched.
As you sauté the mushrooms, they start to leech water, creating moisture. But still! That first layer of mushrooms lucky enough to hit the skillet first stole all the butter, leaving the remaining 80% of mushrooms butter free!
So in a bid to make this buttery-mushroom world fairer (i.e. for ME), my solution is to reduce the amount of butter melted in the skillet, add a bit of olive oil (so you can heat the butter more without it burning and also because I find olive oil gets soaked up less by mushrooms). Then AFTER the mushrooms are golden (i.e. water leeched so they are no longer butter-sponges), add a small knob of butter. Watch the video and be amazed how far 1 tablespoon of butter stretches!
Quite often when I make really simple pastas like this for friends, they assume that I’ve made some kind of sauce because the pasta is slick with sauce that actually sticks to the pasta, rather than being watery and pooling at the bottom of the bowl.
But actually, I don’t. All I do is use the proper Italian way of making pastas by tossing the pasta + sautéed mushrooms in starchy pasta cooking water which magically transforms into a sticky “sauce” that clings to every piece of pasta. The technical term is “emulsification” (i.e. when starchy pasta cooking water gets tossed with butter in mushrooms), and regular readers are probably sick of reading about it because I write about it in every single pasta recipe I share. 🙂
I really hope my photos have captured how juicy and slick with “sauce” the orecchiette pasta is, I struggled a bit. I just don’t want anyone to think that this is a dry boring pasta – it’s about as far from that as it can be! – Nagi x
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
In case my photos didn’t capture how juicy this pasta is, this video sure does! PS Dozer fans – don’t miss the sight of Dozer dashing in when he caught a whiff of this in the Mushroom Pasta video! ❤️
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Mushroom Pasta
Ingredients
- 200 g / 7 oz orecchiette pasta (or 160g/6 oz of other pasta) (Note 1)
- 300 - 350 g / 10 - 12 oz Swiss Brown Mushrooms (Note 2)
- 2 - 3 tbsp unsalted butter , separated
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1/2 onion , finely chopped
- 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
- Meanwhile, slice mushrooms into 4mm / 1/6" thick slices.
- Melt 1 tbsp of butter and oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Add garlic and onions. Cook for 1 minute.
- Turn heat up to high. Add mushrooms and cook until water has leeched then evaporated, and the mushrooms start to turn golden - around 5 minutes.
- Add remaining 1 - 2 tbsp butter. Stir until melted.
- Turn heat down to medium high. 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.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Remove from stove and serve immediately, garnished with fresh parsley and parmesan cheese.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
🍄MUSHROOM LOVE 🍄
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LIFE OF DOZER
There is no such thing as a peaceful lunch in this household. Always eyes on you.
I’m a college student with cooking experience in the negatives… and even I managed to make it taste great! This recipe is super easy to follow and is overall very cheap to make. I totally recommend adding a splash of white wine and some spinach leaves for an extra kick 😀
Sounds like you nailed it Ellie!
Nagi, this recipe is already delicious as it is, but we use Truffle Oil in place of the Olive Oil and find it even more delicious. Thank you!
Woah! Sounds decadent Steve!
Looks yum! I might make it with bacon so my husband doesn’t ask “WHERE’S THE MEAT?!” x
I love it Mia 😂
My kids love this mushroom pasta dish…I love it too!!! We’ve been eating too much meat lately, trying to add more veggie dishes into our diet. It’s so easy to make and tastes delicious!!! Thank you for the great recipe!!!
Wahoo, that’s great Razz!
I added a couple of tablespoons of fresh basil right before serving and it really brightened the dish! This has become a regular dish around my house lately.
Sounds amazing Ian – N x
What a tasty and easy recipe – added some porcini mushrooms as well. Just finished eating and wish there was more!
Wahoo, sounds perfect Stephen!
Hello!
This is a great recipe!
Do you know if it freezes well? We like to meal prep larger quantities for future meals.
Thanks again, Nagi! Ever since I found your website, I’ve been hooked!
You’re truly a life saver!
Hi Nagi! Not sure if someone’s asked this before but do you reckon this would work with a mix of Asian mushrooms (shiitake and oyster)?? Thanks!
Yes most definitely!!
Dear Nagi, Love all your recipes. You have become my ‘go to’ site these days. Re your comments about cooking the mushrooms, until last month I would have agreed with you BUT revisited my Julia Child bible (40 yrs old) and followed her recipe for sautéed mushrooms. No escaped water, all evenly oiled and browned. Treat as if browning meat 1) dry mushrooms 2) very hot butter wait until foam subsided 3) don’t overcrowded – just like meat batch if necessary. Perfect! Give it a shot.
Will have to give it a go Bronwyn! – N x
Made this tonight for my vegetarian daughter and meat eating husband and it was incredible! Only difference is we sautéed zucchini with the mushrooms and it was a great balance of flavours! A new meal for our repertoire! Thank you!
Sounds perfect Wendy!
This was so tasty! Added extra mushrooms. Dialed back a bit on the butter – only by a tablespoon though 😉 love the combo of olive oil and butter. Serve with a chicken breast and viola dinner !
Sounds great Agill!
While mine looks nowhere near as luscious as yours (I didn’t have enough mushrooms!), this tastes amazing! Definitely going into my weekly rotation!
I’m so glad you loved it Katie, mushrooms are one of those deceptive vegetables that always shrink down!
I prepared the mushroom pasta for dinner yesterday. As is my wont, I used somewhat more mushrooms, olive oil, butter onions and garlic, and I seasoned with salt, black pepper, rosemary and sage. I prepared the dish as per your instructions using the Parmesan and some pasta water. My guests said it was better than most restaurants!
What a great compliment Jeffrey – you nailed it!
did this today for son and his lovely wife… He’s very difficult to impress but he was with this one to which I added beef stir fry strips but did not alter in any other way! It’s a keeper for sure.
Woot! I’m so glad it was a hit!
Hi Nagi, Loved this, but added some beef stir-fry strips and bacon for a little more flavour and to stretch it a little more to 6 serves with some Masala Peas on the side.
Sounds divine!!
Delicious! delicious delicious. Bu t not 20 min. Try 45
Can I get the recipe for the stuffed mushrooms
There’s a recipe on my site if you have a search!
DELICIOUS!! Loved the bowl shape do pasta! Can’t wAit to make it for my daughter next time she comes home. She loves mushrooms and Parmesan!
I love the shape of this pasta too!!! 🙂 Glad you enjoyed this one Elise!! N x
Came here for the mushroom pasta but got a bonus shot of my beautiful Bungan beach, so many memories growing up here. X
Awww! I love hearing that! Am sure it’s still as beautiful as it was 🙂 N x