Oyster Mushroom Pasta With A Creamy Sauce

Why We Like This Recipe

It is one of our favorite pasta recipes. Easy to make and loved by everyone in the family. 

It is a very flexible recipe. Although our number one choice would be oyster mushrooms for this pasta sauce, we love it with other mushrooms too. So you can make it with any type of mushroom you like. It is the same for the type of pasta. Although we use pappardelle in this recipe, it is not a must. Use whichever pasta you have on hand.

The creamy pasta sauce is the BEST! The flavor combination of fried oyster mushrooms, garlic, cream and parsley in the sauce is amazing. It is so good that you will want to dig into this sauce before combining it with the cooked pasta.

It is easy to pair with accompaniments. This oyster mushroom pasta can be served with some fresh salads like Turkish shepherd salad.

About The Ingredients

• Pasta: We use pappardelle in this recipe but any pasta would be great in this mushroom sauce. You can even try gluten-free pasta if you want.
• Oyster mushrooms: We love these because of their crispy texture when they are fried. Also, they have a delicious meaty buttery flavor. You can substitute the oyster mushrooms with either shiitake, cremini, or simple button mushrooms if you’d like. You can also use a combination of all these mushrooms!
• Garlic: It gives a super richness to the sauce. You can even increase the amount if you are a huge garlic lover. 
• Heavy cream: It matches perfectly with the meaty mushrooms and garlic. We sometimes use half milk and half heavy cream in the sauce just to make it a bit lighter and more runny. 
• Parsley: The flavor of this herb makes any dish richer. And it matches wonderfully with mushrooms, garlic and heavy cream. Aromatics that will work great with this oyster mushroom pasta sauce are thyme, parsley, rosemary, ginger, tarragon, basil, or chives. You can use these individually or in combination with each other.
• Cheese: We use it only to top the pasta when serving. We would highly recommend classic pasta cheeses like parmesan, mozzarella, and cheddar. And if you can find some Turkish kasar or tulum, definitely give these a try! You can either use the cheese as a topping as we do, or you can incorporate some extra into the oyster mushroom sauce.

How To Make

This is an incredibly easy pasta with oyster mushrooms. You don’t need a ton of ingredients to create delicious flavors! And what’s even better is that you can easily add some additional vegetables, herbs, or meats to create some variety!

First, make the pasta. Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted water for about 10 minutes, or until they are al dente. When draining the pasta, make sure to keep half of the pasta water and put it aside.

Second, prepare and cook the oyster mushrooms. You can make it while pasta is cooking. Start by melting the butter over medium heat. Fry the oyster mushrooms in a single layer so both sides are golden brown. Remove the cooked mushrooms from the pan and set them aside on a plate.

Repeat this until all of the mushrooms have been cooked. Make sure to melt the butter before browning a new batch of mushrooms.

Third, make the creamy mushroom sauce. Transfer all of the mushrooms back into the pan and add garlic, salt, and black pepper. Cook them together for about 1-2 minutes, then add the heavy cream, pasta water, and parsley. Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce the heat and allow it to simmer for 5 minutes.

Lastly, combine the pasta with the creamy mushroom sauce. Cook it for another 2 minutes, and finally season it if needed. Serve immediately with some freshly grated cheese on top.

Tips

• If you want to make a slightly lighter dish, you can use half heavy cream and half milk.
• Never wash your mushrooms before using them. You can simply wipe them with a damp kitchen towel. Once you wash them with water, it will be nearly impossible to get them nice and browned. They will also push out more water and create a very unappealing mushroom liquid.
• It is also very important to never overcrowd your pan. This creates uneven cooking which means that some of your mushrooms will overcook while others won’t be fully cooked yet. This will also help you get a nice evenly browned color on all of the pieces.
• You can use virtually any type of mushroom that you want. We would highly recommend using Shiitake mushrooms. They have a very buttery and meaty flavor which will add some richness to this dish. You can however also use more everyday mushrooms like Portobello or porcini mushrooms.
• Another great tip is to always add butter before starting to cook your next batch. But keep this in mind: As you cook the mushrooms, the butter might start to burn. Clean your pan with a paper towel if needed. Then add butter. You will get beautifully browned mushrooms without a grainy texture.

Variations

One thing we absolutely love about this recipe is how flexible it is. You can add virtually any ingredient that you would like to!

• You can load it with some veggies. Some of our favorite vegetable additions to this oyster mushroom pasta are fresh baby peas, broccoli florets, some zucchini noodles or ribbons, or some baby spinach. All of these ingredients are deliciously flavorful, add texture and color, and will not overpower the mushroom flavor.
• You can make it meaty. We would highly recommend adding some pulled chicken or beef or some bacon pieces.
• You can turn it into a vegan recipe. Substitute oil for butter, substitute coconut cream for heavy cream and leave cheese out.
• Make it gluten-free. You can use your favorite gluten-free pasta in this recipe.

FAQs

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