Pappardelle Pasta with Portobello Mushroom Ragu
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A quick and easy vegetarian pasta recipe — pappardelle with portobello mushrooms and rosemary.
A meaty portobello mushroom sauce combined with ribbons of al dente cooked pasta noodles make this a very satisfying plate, and you can make it on the fly. This is by far one of our most popular pappardelle pasta recipes!
The sauce is much like a traditional ragu or Italian meat sauce, except it’s meatless.
It’s perfect with dishes like soft, cheesy polenta as well as over pasta – of course!
Portobello mushrooms with pasta
Portobello mushrooms have abundant earthy, woodsy flavors that match up perfectly with the piney, aromatic fresh rosemary, garlic cloves and red pepper. The caps are big and meaty, which means portobellos are great for stuffing, as well as roasting with garlic and herbs.
And with pasta, thick mushroom ragus and tomato sauces like this one are best mates with pappardelle — the flat, wide strands coil and curl easily around a fork, catching all the juices and chunky bits of sauce. Yum!
What are portobello (or portabella) mushrooms?
Portobello mushrooms (or portabellas) are actually overgrown, giant cremini mushrooms. It’s true!
Portobellos became all the rage in the 1990s, when mushroom growers realized the potential in allowing white button mushrooms to mature a few extra days.
First they’re marketed as “baby” portobellos called “cremini” before growing into the oversized beauties we call portobellos.
How to prepare portobello mushrooms:
- Choose firm mushrooms with unbroken caps.
- Wipe the mushrooms gently with a towel if they seem dirty — don’t soak them in water or they’ll become soggy.
- The underside of the mushrooms, or the gills, should be tight, dry and light brown in color.
- Yes, you can eat the gills of portobello mushrooms. But if they look very dark in color and moist (verging on slimy) you can feel free to remove them or they might make the sauce murky.
- If the gills are moist and/or turning black, scoop them out with a spoon and discard before slicing and cooking over medium-high heat.
Is pappardelle the same as egg noodles?
Pappardelle is a pasta cut into wide, long noodles. You can find it as fresh egg pasta, and it’s also available as a dried egg pasta and durum wheat pasta without eggs.
The nice, chunky size of pappardelle noodles means it’s ideal to in pasta dishes with rich, hearty sauces like this mushroom ragu, or with creamier sauces like the sauce in Pappardelle al Limone.
I reserve thinner pasta cuts such as spaghetti and linguine for dishes like crowd-pleasing pasta carbonara.
More portobello mushroom recipes:
- Cheesy Baked Portobello Mushrooms with Roasted Vegetables
- Gnocchi with Mushrooms and Blue Cheese Sauce
- Mushroom Ragu with Parmesan Polenta
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Pappardelle Pasta with Rosemary Portobello Mushroom Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons (45 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 medium shallots, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced (about 2 ounces each)
- Kosher salt
- 3 (350 g) portobello mushroom caps (10 -12 ounces), sliced into 1-inch pieces
- 8 ounces (225 g) pappardelle pasta, fresh or dried
- 1 garlic clove, finely sliced
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 2 tablespoons (30 g) tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons (30 g) unsalted butter
- 1 chunk (50 g) Parmigiano Reggiano or Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Put the oil, shallots and a pinch of salt in a large skillet and place over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until the shallots are softened, but not browned.
- Add the mushrooms to the pan. Cook the mushrooms for a few minutes until they take on some color, then stir and add ½ teaspoon salt. Continue cooking until the mushrooms become tender and their liquid evaporates.
- Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil and add 2 tablespoons kosher salt. Cook the pasta until al dente, according to the package directions. Scoop out and reserve ¾ cup of the pasta water, then drain the pasta.
- Add the garlic, rosemary, red pepper, tomato paste, vinegar and butter to the mushrooms. Add ½ cup of the pasta water and stir over medium heat until the mixture becomes saucy. Add the pasta to the pan and toss gently with tongs to coat with the sauce, adding more water if it seems too dry. Taste for seasoning.
- Shave curls of Parmigiano cheese over the pasta with a vegetable peeler and serve.
Karen’s Notes and Tips
- Any leftover pasta and sauce will keep up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
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.
Looking forward to making the portabella pappardelle recipe.
Hello. I love the Pappardelle Pasta with Portobello Mushroom Ragu. Thank you for sharing this great qnd easy recipe. I am struggling a bit as I am not able to cook a decent amount of juicy sauce to stick to the pasta. Mushrooms taste great, but sauce, which should bone used to bind with the pasta, is often scarce. Can you explain how can I produce more sauce? Thank you!
Hi Jose, If you want a saucier sauce, stir in a bit more of the pasta water than the recipe calls for until it’s the consistency you enjoy. I hope that helps!
I made this for my family and it was a hit! My son is saving this as a new family recipe. Thank you for sharing this recipe! Love it!
WOW! This is a special dish. Echo what previous commenters have posted in that the recipe is perfection as written. I did struggle somewhat with the noodle. The pappardelle was woven into tight bundles resembling birds nests and took extra time and babysitting to unfurl than the package directions indicated. As a result, I pulled the mushrooms off the heat for a few while dealing with the noodles. Only mentioning this in case anyone else is a pappardelle newbie like me. That being said, they are the perfect noodle for this dish. Mangia bene!
So easy and so good. I will definitely be making this again. Made it exactly as written. I don’t think I could improve on it.
Rarely after making a recipe the first time do I not think about how I would change something. Nope, this recipe is perfect !
LOVE LOVE LOVE this recipe. I also added a little chicken (2 small tenders cut into small pieces like the mushrooms) and it was delicious. I also add quite a bit more of the balsamic vinegar since we love the taste of it. I have made this a few times and it is always enjoyed by my family!
Made a vegan version and it’s now one of our favorite dinners. This is so good!
Easy and absolutely delicious. Thank you for such a great recipe