Mushroom Asparagus Pasta with Butter Sauce
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This pasta with asparagus recipe is a quick and beautiful pasta dinner! It features a mixture of cultivated and wild mushrooms (use whatever variety available in your market), fork-tender asparagus, and fresh herbs in a buttery pan sauce. Top it off with with a generous sprinkle of fresh Parmesan cheese.
It has to be one of my favorite combinations: Pasta and fresh asparagus, with sautéed mushrooms in a light and buttery sauce. This dish always feels spring-like to me, no matter what time of year I cook it.
When asparagus comes into season, I love to eat it practically nonstop until it’s over. Even just roasting asparagus on a sheet pan is a huge treat! It’s all about that first taste of fresh green things that we all look forward to in the spring and early summer.
Ingredient overview
Seasonally, grassy fresh asparagus pops out of the earth just in time to pair with woodsy wild mushrooms. It’s like they were made for each other!
- Fresh asparagus
- Mushrooms: Use button or cremini mushrooms (my pick for cooking quick mushroom and spinach pasta), and assorted “wild” mushrooms. You can often find varieties like shiitake, oyster mushrooms, king trumpet and maitakes in most grocery stores., or
- Shallot and garlic
- Pasta: Use fresh or dried long pasta, such as fettuccine or tagliatelle or short shapes like penne or bowties.
- Parmesan cheese
- Fresh herbs: Italian parsley and fresh thyme pair nicely with the earthy vegetables.
Asparagus, fresh and raw
When asparagus is incredibly fresh, it’s out of this world delicious to eat raw. It tastes mildly sweet and grassy. You can slice or shave asparagus spears very thinly and add it to salads, pasta or as a topping for bruschetta or crostini.
That’s what’s going on in this recipe — the asparagus stalks are cooked with a jumble of mixed mushrooms in a buttery sauce, and the finished dish is garnished with shaved raw asparagus ribbons.
Mushroom Asparagus Pasta with Butter Sauce
Ingredients
- ¾ pound (340 g) asparagus, woody ends trimmed
- Kosher salt
- 10 ounces (283 g) mixed wild mushrooms, see note
- 8 ounces (225 g) cremini or white button mushrooms
- 3 tablespoons (45 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
- 8 ounces (225 g) fettuccine pasta, fresh or dried, or your preferred pasta shape
- 1 shallot or red onion, thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or grated
- 4 tablespoons (60 g) unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- ½ cup Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Set up a bowl of ice water near the stovetop.
- Take 2 asparagus stalks and shave them into thin ribbons with a swivel vegetable peeler, then set aside. Slice the remaining stalks into diagonal pieces about 2 inches long.
- Drop the sliced asparagus into the boiling water and cook 3 minutes. Scoop them out with a slotted spoon into the bowl of ice water.
- Gently wipe the wild mushrooms with a cloth if they have debris clinging to them. Trim the stem ends and break or slice the mushrooms into large bite-size pieces. Slice the button mushrooms into quarters.
- Set a large (12-inch) skillet over medium-high heat and add the oil. Put the mushrooms in the pan in one layer. Cook for 5 minutes without stirring, until they begin to brown. Add a large pinch of salt and stir the mushrooms. Cook for another 5 minutes or so, until they’ve given up their liquid and softened.
- Cook the pasta until al dente, reserving ½ cup of the water before draining.
- Add the shallot, garlic and butter to the mushrooms and stir. Cook 1 or 2 minutes, until the garlic is fragrant and the butter is melted. Stir in a little pasta water to loosen the sauce.
- Drain the cooked asparagus and add to the skillet. Lower the heat. Add the drained pasta, thyme and parsley and toss with tongs (add more pasta water if needed). Add the reserved (raw) shaved asparagus and Parmesan, toss gently and serve.
Karen’s Notes and Tips
- Use a mixture of wild mushrooms available in your market, such as maitake (also called hen of the woods), oyster, king trumpets, brown or white beech, or shiitake caps (trim the tough stems).
Nutrition
Nutrition facts are calculated by third-party software. If you have specific dietary needs, please refer to your favorite calculator.
Hey, I’m Karen
Creator of Familystyle Food
I’m a food obsessed super-taster and professionally trained cook ALL about creating elevated dinners with everyday ingredients. Find simplified recipes made from scratch and enjoy incredibly tasty food! Read more about me here.
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Just bought 2 packages of king ,maitake, and another oyster mushroom. Wanted something phenomenal to make. Had asparagus also!!! Thanks for the recipe! Awesome flavors and we had enough for lunch next day too! Heated gently. I was going to grill the kings, having heard how much people enjoyed them that way but I didn’t want to go to the trouble of getting the grill set up. Lol. Thanks this was awesome 👍
This was absolutely delicious. I added sliced Italian sausage because my boys love meat products. It would have been great without – either way. It’s totally going in the rotation.
This is so delicious. I used local asparagus and chestnut mushrooms. I added a splash of milk to the sauce.
I love this spring take on pasta!
I have had freshly picked raw asparagus before, and they where amazing! I love the combination of simple ingredients in this recipe, plus tagliatelle is one of my favorites pastas! great seasonal recipe 🙂
This looks so tasty and almost shouts “spring!!” I can’t wait to try it. XO