LIGHT AND CREAMY PIOPPINI MUSHROOM PASTA (PASTA CON FUNGHI E PANNA)

  • Total Time: 30 minutes

  • Yield: 4 Servings 1x

  • Diet: Vegetarian

This might just be the world’s best mushroom pasta (or at least as good as your favorite neighborhood Italian spot♡). This light and creamy mushroom pasta gets its delicious forest flavor and perfectly “meaty” texture from one of our favorite stars of the fungi family — Italian Velvet Pioppini mushrooms. And it’s ready in less than 30 minutes!  Nutty, sweet, tender sautéed pioppini mushrooms are perfectly mild (and look like something out of a fairytale) making them a natural fit for this creamy, garlicky, spicy mushroom and wine sauce. Get your favorite egg pasta ready because this pasta is a real treat!

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 pound fettuccini egg pasta (500g) (sub favorite egg pasta like tagliatelle or pappardelle)

  • 1 pound Italian Pioppini mushrooms, cleaned and tough stems removed (500g) (sub button, cremini, or fresh porcini)

  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (45g)

  • 3 garlic cloves, smashed

  • 3 to 4 dried whole red chili peppers, optional (sub crushed red chili flakes to taste)

  • 2 tablespoons dry Marsala wine (30g) (sub dry white wine or red wine)

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (30g)

  • 3 tablespoons heavy cream (45g)

  • scallions, green parts only (sub chives)

  • 1 1/2 ounces grated Grana Padano cheese, plus more for sprinkling (45g) (sub Parmigiano-Reggiano or Parmesan)

  • salt to taste

  • freshly grated nutmeg (optional but highly recommended)

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Sauté the mushrooms. Add the olive oil, smashed garlic cloves, and whole red chili peppers to a 12-inch skillet set over medium-high heat, and cook until the garlic is fragrant and blistered (about 3 to 4 minutes). Remove the garlic and chilis to a small bowl and set aside. To the hot skillet, add the mushrooms, and continue cooking without moving them for 3 minutes.  Season with salt to taste, give them a quick toss, and then continue cooking them for 2 more minutes and add the garlic and chili peppers. Cook for 5 minutes or until the mushrooms are golden brown. 

  2. Deglaze the pan with wine. With the heat still on medium-high, add the wine to the pan and use a wooden spoon to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan (the fond) and stir to incorporate it. Set a timer for 3 minutes and cook until the wine has evaporated and the mushrooms look glossy and golden brown.

  3. Add the heavy cream and butter.  Add the butter and cream, stir to combine, and cook for 1 minute before adding the sliced scallions tossing everything together. At this point, it should look like the mushrooms have soaked up most (or all) of the cream. *You may turn off the heat at this point if your pasta still needs time to cook and turn it back on about 2 minutes before the pasta is finished.

  4. Cook the pasta. While you’re finishing the mushroom sauce, bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to al dente doneness according to directions.

  5. Finish the mushroom cream sauce. During the last 3 minutes of pasta cooking time, use a ladle to add about 1/4 cup of starchy cooking water to the mushroom cream mixture set over medium-high heat, and stir to incorporate it. You’ll notice the cream magically reappears and the sauce looks glossy from binding the starches to the fat in the cream and butter. Add more starchy water as needed to reach desired consistency stirring and cooking just until the sauce looks glossy and smooth (not watery). Adjust the seasonings (adding salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste), but remember you’ll be adding grated cheese in the next step which also has salt in it.

  6. Strain the pasta and assemble the pasta. Add the strained pasta directly to the mushroom sauce and toss everything quickly to combine. Turn off the heat, add the grated cheese, and toss well. Serve immediately, and Enjoy!