This is a mushroom pasta that’s nice and juicy, in no way dry and dull even though it’s not made with a tomato or cream sauce like this Creamy Mushroom Pasta. It’s buttery and garlicky, and it’s 6 ingredient magic at its best.
Plus my little trick to make extra buttery mushrooms using LESS butter!
Mushroom Pasta
Anyone who has sautéed mushrooms will know that the minute mushrooms hit the skillet, the bottom layer of mushrooms soaks up the oil, leaving the top layer dry.
So I used to think that the best way to sauté mushrooms was with loads and loads of butter or olive oil. 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!
In a bid to even out the butteriness of mushrooms, 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 get the mushrooms browned faster). Then AFTER the mushrooms are golden (i.e. water leeched so they are no longer butter-sponges), add a small knob of butter.
Boom! A big skillet of mushrooms that look and taste WAY more buttery than if all the butter is melted at the beginning! See??
What you need for mushroom pasta
Here’s what you need for this mushroom pasta. You can use any type of long strand or even short stand pasta you want (like orecchiette, penne, ziti, macaroni). Also, the parmesan is not just for serving. Tossing the pasta with parmesan before serving is a little trick I like to use for an extra flavour boost!
How to make mushroom spaghetti
Here’s how to make this mushroom pasta:
The two key steps here are:
-
Butter added later – Hold back some of the butter until AFTER the mushrooms are golden – for extra buttery mushrooms with less butter!
-
Pasta cooking water – Use some of the pasta cooking water to toss with the spaghetti and mushrooms. The starch in the water will emulsify (thicken) with the butter in the mushrooms, creating a slick juicy transparent “sauce” that clings to the pasta strands. Classic Italian cooking technique used for all pastas.
If you do this key step of tossing the pasta with some of the pasta cooking water, people will think you’ve made a mushroom pasta sauce. That’s how juicy and “saucy” it seems!
I know I keep going on and on about how juicy and slick this pasta is! It’s because this is hard to capture in photos and I feel like people see pastas like this one without a large pot of sauce and assume it’s dry and boring. When in actual fact, this is about as far from that as it can be!
If you’d like to add some extra greens into your meal, try this with a classic (super quick) Rocket/Arugula Salad with Balsamic Dressing. Otherwise, a juicy tomato salad, fresh crunchy cucumber salad, or have a browse through my Vegetable Sides and pick something using vegetables you have!
– Nagi x
PS If you want to indulge in a special Italian pasta meal, add a side of Garlic Bread or Cheesy Garlic Bread, and finish with Tiramisu. Sheer perfection!
Watch how to make it
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Mushroom Pasta
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:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published October 2016. Updated with sparking new photos and video!
🍄MUSHROOM LOVE 🍄
LIFE OF DOZER
I have a 4WD car. It’s pretty big. Dozer is bigger. 😂
And from the original publication date:
There is no such thing as a peaceful lunch in this household. Always eyes on you.
Eha says
Absolutely and totally moreish: I use a blinding hot wok and one needs less oil!! Swiss Browns/Portobellos a treat . . . but for their cost, one has a tendency to add the buttons . . . NOW, ’tis too late for this year in Australia – but why don’t you grow your own ‘more expensive’ mushrooms: kits at just over $A20 available each late autumn and t’out winter . . . the quality cannot be surpassed and you pick them and use them . . . [oh Dozer: you should be earning huge modelling fees 🙂 !!]
Nagi says
That is SO SMART Eha, I can’t believe I never thought of that! Swiss Browns are as low as $6 / kg at the moment, I’ve gone MAD over them! Don’t tell me you grow your own mushrooms…… PS Modelling for me is how Dozer earns his keep. 🙂 N x
Eha says
Well, you grow them in the dark: say garage or laundry, twixt about May – October where I live. You simply cannot buy that quality and it is a quick twist of the stem for as many as you need [SO heavy and into pot or pan immediately] – more ‘meat’, less ‘water’, more ‘taste’ – don’t know they come out cheaper necessarily . . . but it is like the difference between organic farm chicken and that in plastic wrap at the supermarket 🙂 ! Any on line plant store in Australia will ship! Your own greengrocer can probably order in . . .
Nagi says
That sounds incredible Eha! I might have to give it a go!!
Jane says
Got home late … what to cook… have lots and lots of mushrooms ummmm lets check out Nagi…. Bingo perfect!!
So 20 mins later with a nice glass of red we are eating mushroom Pasta… thanks again Nagi
PS we had the Lamb Shanks last night …. to die for …6 lamb shanks for 3 adults and non left!!! the boys had two helpings … Served with Horseradish Mash …. great match
Nagi says
Ooooh!!! I’m so glad you enjoyed it Jane, THANK YOU for letting me know! And I’m glad you enjoyed the lamb shanks too….SIX???? For 3 people????
ann says
I can smell it, I can taste it and I will one day very very soon. Thank you!
Love seeing Dozers tail fly past the window. Hugs Dozer.
Nagi says
The sight of his tail flying past the window is one I see many times every day, and always makes me smile! PS You should come here for lunch one day and see it for yourself 😉
Angel Miller says
Just curious about something. You are right. Button mushrooms are the least flavorful of all mushrooms, so why do you use them? Why not use better mushrooms like Maitake, Shiitake, Chicken of the Woods, etc.? Fall is mushroom season after all so there should be lots of choices at your local farmers market. Yes, I know we could use any of these in this dish, but I’m wondering why you didn’t. Just curious. (PS…I’m a mushroom farmer so I might be a bit biased. LOL) I will be testing this recipe out this week with some Chicken of the Woods.
Nagi says
Hi Angel! I actually used Swiss Brown 🙂 Maybe they looked like the white ones – bad filming on my part! I remember friends asking me to go mushroom picking in fall (Autumn 🙂 ) but actually (strangely????) now is the time when mushrooms are fantastic value here in Australia! In our supermarkets, Swiss Brown and portobello mushrooms become really cheap – up to 25% of the usual price – and these are the ones that are so much better than the ordinary button mushrooms! We have shiitake, oyster, and a handful of other Asian mushrooms but these are usually more expensive all year round (cheaper at Asian grocers though 🙂 ) I love that you’re a mushroom farmer and that you’re biased! LOVE IT!!! PS Never had Chicken of the Woods, I would adore trying all sorts of more exotic mushrooms!
Angel Miller says
We make this recipe and it’s a winner. We used our log-grown Shiitake and it was so rich a savory. Love it, and I didn’t change a thing. This recipe is a keeper. We will be making this again.
Nagi says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Angel, thank you for letting me know! N x
RossC says
We love mushroom pasta… As usual, you give a tip or 2 to further enhance a meal we often enjoy..
Thank you and scratch Dozer’s ears for me… :O)
Nagi says
SCRATCHED!!! 🙂
RossC says
oops….one star didn’t light up… :o(
ntombi says
OOOH Nagi! you really are a darling! i am on this dish tonight thanx a lotttt!
Nagi says
I hope you LOVED IT!!!
Jenn says
Oh I can’t wait to go to the grocery today! I am making this for dinner and going to pair it with a beautifully tender and thinly sliced steak (medium), and let’s face it, a nice white wine! My mouth is watering already!!
Nagi says
YUM!!!! My mouth is watering too!!!
Jenn says
I wish I would have thought to take a picture. It was so amazing! The girls at work really liked the left overs too.
Thanks for the recipe!
Susan says
This sounds like great pasta. I wish my husband liked mushrooms…
Nagi says
Maybe this will turn him!!!
Marisa Franca @ All Our Way says
Boring is NOT a word I would ever use with you 🙂 I always save a cup of pasta water before dumping out the rest. I can’t believe what a difference it makes. You are right! Using olive oil and a little butter is all you need and you keep that delicious buttery taste without adding a ton. And mushrooms elevate any dish to another level. Poor Dozer! That sad look would make me go eat in a closet. xoxo
Nagi says
That’s because YOU know how to cook real proper Italian pasta!!! So I’m glad to hear I’ve done it right by you!!! N x
Michelle says
I can’t wait to try this and I loved watching Dozer run into the house at the end of the video! This would make a very elegant side dish also.
Nagi says
Thanks Michelle! And yes you are right, what a fantastic side dish! N x
CK says
It’s mushroom pasta tonight and not chicken tonight as the ad says.
Can you still have your lunch in full view of Dozer, with his eyes on you?
Nagi says
NO, it’s too disturbing!! Usually he is lying under the table or I boot him out of the house 😉
Dorothy Dunton says
Hi Nagi! What a lovely delicious dish! I could eat the entire pan full myself! I have been craving pasta lately and I could eat mushrooms every day! Dozer isn’t begging, he is just on standby cleanup duty! My two do the same thing, but they know that if they actually stare at us they won’t get a crumb so they avert their eyes until I start to clear up.
Nagi says
I WISH I could teach him to avert his eyes!!!!
helen @ Scrummy Lane says
Brilliant, simple idea as usual Nagi – love the butter tip!
NOW, what I really want to say is… DON’T TELL ME THAT’S WHERE YOU LIVE???!!! (end of your video!) Oh my goodness, some day I am coming to visit you, girl! 🙂
Nagi says
WELL Missy, how many times have I invited you???!!! 😉
Laura M says
Exactly what I was going to say. Live right on the water?????
Nagi says
I’m so lucky 🙂 It’s a beach shack I’ve been renting for years – and hopefully more many more!
Bil says
Well I know what I’m making for dinner tonight!
Nagi says
Oooh! I hope you do Bil! N x