Mushroom Pasta

Rich, woodsy, vegetarian-friendly mushroom pasta is my new favorite dinner recipe, and one simple swap makes it vegan!

My husband is what you might call a "meat and potatoes" kind of guy.   Although he will happily eat vegetables, he will not happily eat dinner without some sort of meat involved.  Maybe he's more of a "meat and three" type of guy than simply "meat and potatoes".

I am definitely a meat eater.  Sometimes I toy with vegetarianism, and then I remember that vegetarians do not eat filet mignon, and I brush the idea right out of my mind. And even though I rarely eat it, I really like filet mignon and am wholly unwilling to give it up. ( Eh? Eh? That was a steak pun, in case you missed it.) Steak puns aside, we can't eat filet mignon every night and probably shouldn't gorge ourselves on any kind of meat each evening.  For these reasons, I inflict a vegetarian dinner on my husband once a week. Admittedly, some weeks go better than others. However, this week went incredibly well. This week, I made this Mushroom Pasta, and it totally passed the husband test.

It's rich, with a silky sauce that tastes almost creamy, but there is no cream in it.  In fact, you could easily switch out the butter for olive oil, leave out the grated cheese, and make it vegan. I generally don't, because I really like butter and grated cheese.  But I've done it before, and it was still super good.

Mushroom Pasta

A vegetarian pasta dish with a silky smooth, rich mushroom sauce.

4.67 from 3 votes

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Course: Pasta, Vegan, Vegetarian

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Servings: 3 servings

Author: Basil and Bubbly

Ingredients

• 10 ounces Fresh Fettuccine Pasta
• 3 cloves Garlic minced
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 6 ounces Portobello Mushrooms sliced
• 5 ounces Shiitake Mushrooms sliced
• 5 ounces Mixed Mushrooms like oyster, cremini, white button, etc
• 1 Tablespoon of Flour
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• ½ teaspoon Pepper
• 1 ½ teaspoons Fresh Thyme Leaves
• 2 cups Mushroom Broth chicken broth will do in a pinch, or vegetable broth if you want to keep it vegetarian
• ½ cup Dry White Wine like Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc
• 2 Tablespoons Parsley
• ¼ cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese plus more for topping ( optional )

Instructions

• Start a large pot of water boiling for the pasta.
• In a large skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium heat. Add roughly two cloves of minced garlic to the pan, along with the mushrooms. Cook for approximately 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the largest pieces of mushrooms are soft. Remove the mushrooms from the pan and set aside.
• Melt the other tablespoon of butter in the pan. Add the flour and stir to make a paste.
• Continuing to stir the butter/flour paste ( roux! ), add the remaining minced garlic, salt, and pepper. Stir over medium heat for one minute.
• Slowly stir in the mushroom broth, ½ a cup at a time. Make sure all of the broth is absorbed into the roux before adding the next ½ cup of broth. Add the wine after all of the broth has been added.
• (You should multitask here -- now's a good time to add the pasta to the boiling water, and cook according to package directions. My guess is 3 - 5 minutes. )
• Cook the sauce in the skillet for 5 minutes, until the broth and wine have reduced by ¼. This isn't a science, so don't take out the measuring stick. Just make sure that the sauce has reduced enough to have a thicker, sauce-like consistency instead of a watery consistency. If it gets too thick, you can add some water to the pan to thin it back out!
• Add the cooked mushrooms, parsley, cheese, and fresh thyme to the pan. Stir to combine.
• Drain the pasta, and add to the pan with the mushroom sauce. Toss to coat.
• Serve with a sprinkle of Pecorino Romano cheese on top.

Notes

Parmesan Cheese may be substituted for Pecorino Romano Cheese.

Vegan Option:
Omit the cheese entirely.
Substitute the butter for olive oil.

Tried this recipe?Mention @basilandbubbly or tag #basilandbubbly!