This pasta with mushrooms and cream sauce is rich, delicious, and extremely simple to make! It’s a great weeknight dinner.
I love mushrooms. Strangely, I remember when this happened. I mean, not a specific date or anything, but I remember the time in my life when I stopped thinking that mushrooms were gross (I’m not sure why I ever thought that) and started thinking that they were delicious. Oddly enough, it was at Chuck E. Cheese’s. Randomly I decided to try mushrooms on the individual pizza that I ordered on my break one night and that was all she wrote.
I’ve noticed that every time I invite people over to my house and cook them something with mushrooms in it, the mushrooms always get picked out (sorry, if you pick something out of food I cook for you, I will notice. Don’t worry. I’m not offended.). This perplexes me. Why doesn’t everyone love mushrooms as much as I do? Someone clue me in. I will stop short of saying that they are “meaty”-a term that I see used to describe mushrooms all the time-but there is definitely a texture and a flavor to mushrooms that you don’t really find in other plant life. I love them cooked, raw, as the main feature of a dish or just a player, in the main dish or as a side. You get the picture.
Suffice it to say that just about every time that I see a new recipe that prominently features mushrooms I take a mental note to make it as soon as possible. When I found this recipe for pasta with mushrooms, written in my aunt Susan’s impeccable handwriting (my handwriting is more of a genetic trait than a teacher skill, I think, as my dad and his sister both have amazing penmanship), in my grandmother’s recipe book, it was no different. A recipe that features a pound and a half of mushrooms and a full cup of heavy cream plus the pasta of your choice? Um, yes please. The only change that I might make? I think next time I make this dish I will add port to it to mimic a chicken and mushroom dish from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, and Simone Beck. This was a quick, easy, and delicious weeknight dinner.
If you love mushrooms like I do, you won’t regret making this pasta with mushrooms.
(By the way, this pasta was delicious the next day mixed with cubed mozzarella, topped with bread crumbs, and baked at 350 degrees for 30 minutes).
Mary
Yield: 6-8 servings
10 minPrep Time:
20 minCook Time:
30 minTotal Time:
Ingredients
- 6 T. unsalted butter
- 1 ½ pounds mushrooms, cleaned and quartered or sliced
- 3 scallions, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 ½ teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup heavy cream
- salt and pepper
- 1 box (12-16 ounces) spaghetti, linguine, or fettuccine, cooked according to package instructions
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large (12-inch) saucepan over medium heat. Saute the scallions until soft.
- Add the mushrooms, herbs, and vinegar. Cook and stir for 3-5 minutes, until the mushrooms are softened. Add the chicken broth and cook for five minutes.
- Add the cream and cook for another five minutes, until the sauce reduces and thickens slightly. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Pour the sauce over the pasta and toss. Serve immediately with parmesan cheese for grating.
Comments