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Rustic Mushroom Marsala Pasta with fork

Rustic Mushroom Marsala Pasta

Creamy mushroom pasta sauce flavored with Marsala, shallots, and cheese. This vegetarian pasta dish is delicious as a main dish or excellent side.
Course Pasta
Cuisine Italian
Keyword easy pasta dish, marsala, mushrooms, pasta

Ingredients

  • 1 lb fresh or ¾ pound dried pasta I used fresh Pappardelle using my recipe for fresh pasta on whattomunch.com
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 12 oz mushrooms white, cremini, trumpet, morel, etc.
  • ½ cup chopped shallots
  • 1/3 cup Marsala
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
  • ½ cup grated Compté cheese
  • 1 cup of pasta cooking water
  • 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. In a large pot, bring the water to boil for the pasta.
  2. While the water is heating up, heat a large skillet over medium heat. I used a 12-inch skillet so the mushrooms will have room to cook. If you have a smaller 10-inch skillet, cook the mushrooms ½ at a time to help the moisture evaporate.
  3. Add the butter, the olive oil, and the sliced mushrooms.
  4. Sauté, frequently stirring until the mushrooms have released most of their moisture and just began to brown.
  5. While the mushrooms are cooking, keep an eye on the pasta water.
  6. When the water has come to a boil, salt the water heavily and add the pasta. Cook the pasta until al dente. If you are using fresh and the pasta is very thin, this will only take a few minutes. If you are using dried, follow the package directions for the amount of time.
  7. Make sure you reserve a cup of starchy water from cooking the pasta.
  8. While the pasta is cooking, add the chopped shallots to the mushrooms. Continue to cook until the shallots have softened.
  9. Pour in the Marsala and stir to bring up any cooked bits from the bottom of the pan (this is called deglazing) Then add the cream.
  10. Let the sauce reduce at a bubbling simmer for a minute or two.
  11. By now, the pasta should be cooked or almost cooked, make sure you remove 1 cup of the starchy cooking water and add the water to the bubbling sauce.
  12. Drain the pasta and set aside briefly.
  13. Let the mushroom sauce cook for a minute to combine the starchy water with the rest of the sauce.
  14. Add the parsley and taste the sauce to see if it needs any more salt or some pepper.
  15. Add the pasta to the simmering sauce in the skillet and toss to coat, lifting and stirring to make sure the noodles are completely coated. If the sauce seems a bit watery, don't fret as the pasta will continue to absorb.
  16. Serve with more parmesan cheese and parsley if desired.

Recipe Notes

About the mushrooms, I used a combination of cremini and trumpet. You can use any combination of wild and domestic mushrooms. If you are lucky to have a farmer's market with a mushroom vendor, go wild! I have used Lions Main, Oyster, and Trumpets. All are delicious. If you want, you can use all white button mushrooms, and this sauce is still fantastic.