Creamy Mushroom Pasta

Creamy Mushroom Pasta is an easy and luxurious dinner with garlic, caramelized onion and lemon. With the perfect amount of creaminess, this pasta is great for special occasions and yet is simple enough for week nights. 

Serve this delicious pasta with Garlic Bread and a side salad with a Simple Lemon Vinaigrette. Also, a refreshing dessert of Lemon Sorbet or Italian Lemon Pound Cake makes this meal complete. 

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Mushroom Lover’s Dream Come True

For anyone who loves mushrooms, this is a mushroom lovers dream come true. This mushroom pasta is creamy, flavorful and most important, loaded with mushrooms. I highly recommend sticking with the full amount of mushrooms called for. However, this dinner still tastes amazing if you use less. 

Make this pasta for date night in and enjoy leftovers for lunch the next few days. Also, this meal is special enough for holidays like Christmas and Valentines and yet very easy to make. 

Ingredients Needed

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil (1/2 cup total)- This amount can be split with butter for extra flavor. However, a good quality olive is worth its weight in gold and makes using butter not necessary. To find a high quality olive oil look for an estate or mill name on the bottle along with a harvest date. These are signs that you have the real deal. 
• 1 Medium Yellow Onion (aka Brown Onion)– Cutting the onion into thin strips and then caramelizing the onion adds amazing flavor.
• Mushrooms (a full 2 pounds)– Shitake and Baby Bellas are pictured.
• Chicken Broth (1 cup)
• Large Garlic Cloves (4-6 cloves)
• Dry White Wine (1/4 cup)– My favorite white cooking wines are sauvignon blanc, chardonnay and sherry.  
• Heavy Whipping Cream (1 cup)– This amount adds just the right amount of creaminess without being overly heavy.
• 1 Lemon (both the zest and the juice)– This is my favorite zesting tool for quick and easy zesting. Also, this top rated juicer making juicing lemons very easy. This juicer is also a favorite of mine. 
• Fresh Thyme Sprigs (3-4) or Dried Thyme (1/2 teaspoon)
• Italian Parsley (aka Flat Leave Parsley, 1/2 cup chopped)
• Parmigiano Reggiano (1 cup freshly grated)– I highly recommend using this cheese and completely ignoring Parmesan cheese that comes in a can.  Parmigiano Reggiano is considered “The King of Parmesan Cheese”
• 1 Pound Pasta of Choice

How to Make

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Salt the water well and cook the pasta to al dente, following the instructions on the package. (Bring the pot of water to boil early on in the cooking process and start cooking the pasta at around the same time as sautéing the mushrooms.)
2. Heat a large stainless steel frying pan over medium/high heat. Add 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil and a thinly slice onion to the pan. Stir to coat the onion in the fat and cook for 20 minutes stirring often.
3. Heat a separate large frying pan over medium/high heat and add remaining oil. Add mushrooms and a pinch of salt to the pan. Cook stirring regularly until mushrooms have lost most of their moisture, about 4-5 minutes.
4. To the mushroom pan stir in the wine and let simmer for 2-3 minutes.
5. Add chicken broth, sliced garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, caramelized onions and a generous amount of black pepper to the mushrooms. Simmer for another 2-3 minutes.
6. Stir in heavy cream and fresh herbs. Bring back to a simmer for about 4 minutes and then turn off heat.
7. Stir in Parmigiano Reggiano.
8. Add cooked pasta to the pan and stir well.
9. Serve with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano and chopped Italian parsley.
    
    

Caramelizing the Onions

There is nothing quite like the sweet and savory, melt in your mouth flavor of caramelized onions. If you have ever wondered if it is worth the time investment, the answer is YES!!! It is one of the secrets that make this pasta so gourmet tasting. However, if you do not have the time to make deep rich caramelized onions, you do have a few options. Here are three ways to approach caramelizing your onions. 

Option #1 (Traditional Method)– Heat a large stainless steel frying pan or enameled cast iron pan over medium heat. Add oil (or half oil and half butter) to the pan. Add thinly sliced onions and stir to coat with fat. Cook at this heat for 40-45 minutes making sure to stir every so often. This method will create the deep rich onions that melt in your mouth.

Option #2 (Quick Cooking Caramelization) This method creates deep rich caramelized onions also but in 15 minutes using high heat and water. This approach is a little more labor intensive but can work beautifully when time is limited. 

Option #3 (Light Caramelized Onion)– In other words, cooking the onion until lightly browned but not fully caramelized. This approach works best when time and energy is limited and is what is seen in the video. To do this method heat a large stainless steel frying pan or enameled cast iron pan over medium/high heat. Add oil (or half oil and half butter) to the pan. Add thinly sliced onions and stir to coat with fat. Cook at this heat for 20 minutes making sure to stir often.

Best Pasta to Use for Creamy Mushroom Pasta

The best pasta for this creamy mushroom sauce is a tubular noodle because the hollow inside will hold the creamy sauce beautifully. Here are a few of my favorite options.

• Cavatappi (pictured in photos and video)
• Bucatini 
• Cellentani
• Garganelli
• Mostaccioli 
• Penne

Best Mushrooms for Pasta

A combination of a few different mushrooms gives a variety of textures that makes this pasta dish absolutely amazing. Here are some of the best options. 

• Portobello
• Cremini 
• Shitake
• Baby Bella
• Oyster
• Maitake
• White Button

How to Store Leftovers

The best way to store this Creamy Mushroom Pasta is in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. 

Reheating Leftovers

Reheat individual portions on a glass plate or bowl for 2 minutes on power level 8. Stir and if needed, heat for an additional minute on the same power level. 

More Delicious Pasta Recipes

Pici Cacio e Pepe

Spaghetti all Puttanesca

Shrimp and Chorizo Pasta

Sausage Pesto Pasta

Simple Angel Hair Pasta

Lemon Garlic Pasta