Portobello Mushroom Pappardelle
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This is a quick and easy vegetarian pasta recipe — mushroom pappardelle pasta in a savory sauce (ragu!) thick with chunky portobello mushrooms and rosemary. The meaty-tasting 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!
I would describe the sauce as inspired by a traditional ragu or Italian meat sauce, only it doesn’t use any meat at all.
Portobello mushrooms with pasta
Portobello mushrooms have abundant earthy, woodsy flavors. I love the way they match up 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, a thick mushroom ragu is a best friend with pappardelle — the flat, wide strands coil and curl easily around a fork, catching all the juices and chunky bits of sauce. Yum!
I used to work in a produce market in high school, I still remember learning that portobello mushrooms (or portabellas) are simply the adult versions of cremini mushrooms. It seemed pretty interesting! They’re cultivated a bit longer, until they’re 3-4 inches in diameter.
How to prep portobello mushrooms:
- Choose firm mushrooms with unbroken caps. The underside of the mushrooms, or the gills, should be tight, dry and light brown in color.
- Wipe the mushrooms gently with a towel if they seem dirty — don’t soak them in water or they’ll become soggy.
- 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.
Portobello Mushroom Pappardelle
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.Â
Karen’s Notes and Tips
- Any leftover pasta and sauce will keep up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
- The sauce coats up to 8 ounces of pasta. If you’d enjoy larger servings or are cooking one pound of pasta, add one more shallot and 1-2 additional portobellos. Increase the sauce by doubling the tomato paste, balsamic vinegar and butter. Add up to 1 cup of the pasta water.
Nutrition per serving
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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I absolutely love this recipe! I usually add a bit more balsamic and have started including some sun-dried tomato to up it a notch, beyond delicious!
Sun-dried tomato is a great idea!
Delicious, use fresh pasta if you can.
If RawbeautyKristi (Youtube) says this is one of her favorite meals in her life, I’m gonna check it out!
Can you use sliced baby Bella’s for the portobellos?
Yes for sure!
Can you substitute basil for the rosemary? Trying to use what’s growing in my garden.
Yes, you certainly could. But since basil is more tender herb than rosemary I would stir it at the end when you toss the sauce with the pasta. Fresh thyme would also be really good!
Stellar dish! Hubby and I love it so much! Didn’t change a thing. Recipe is perfect!!
Absolutely delicious! Will be making this many more times!
Simple and nice. The recipe is detailed, with very clear steps to follow. Easily accessible simple ingredients that make an amazing pasta dish. This will be an essential item in my comfort food list!
Excellent recipe! I added some of the rosemary with the portabello mushrooms. I decreased the amount of tomato paste to 1.2 tablespoons that ensures that it isn’t too tomato-y and retains the earthiness of the portabello. I also added a dash of red wine along with the balsamic vinegar. Dee-lish!
This was delicious!! Used four large portobello mushrooms and reduced to almost dry, added the pasta water and the remaining ingredients and it turned out great.
Seriously outstanding:)
Very good recipe, didn’t have shallots so substituted them for onions but worked just as well. Thank you for the new addition!
Is there any difference what pasta to use, fresh or dried? What did you use? I am going to make it at the weekend and need to know what it is better to buy.
Hi Sam – You can use either fresh or dried pasta. I make this with dried. But if you choose fresh pasta, be sure to cook it for just a few minutes!
I’ve made this several times including last night. It’s a fun recipe. Mine does not look like the picture (Ha! Do they ever?). I did try to increase the sauce, which may be the problem. But mine was a dense heavy-on-the-tomato sauce. How do you make yours turn out more-mushroom, lighter sauce? Thank you!
Hi – I know what you mean about the sauce! I would suggest adding just an additional teaspoon of tomato paste if you’re doubling the sauce to avoid the extra tomato taste.
Loved this recipe. Totally delicious. My husband had two servings and he is a fussy eater.
It’s a little late in the game to be asking this question as I’m going to start preparing this recipe in just a few minutes, but when you say “2 shallots,” about how many cups are you talking? I just bought two huge shallots at the grocery store and am concerned about overdoing it.
Yes, since shallots can vary in size, measure about 1/2 cup sliced!
how long do you cook FRESH pappardelle pata??
hi Julie – Fresh pappardelle should only take a few minutes to cook. Drop them in boiling water and taste after 2-3 minutes.
Not sure what I expected, it has more tomato flavor than how I usually prepare mushroom pastas, but yay for a new discovery! Easy and delicious.
This was AMAZING!! I actually had some fresh homemade rosemary pappardelle that I picked up from the farmer’s market and used that for the rosemary flavor instead of adding fresh rosemary to the sauce. Can’t wait to eat the leftovers!!
I made this twice in the past two weeks. Absolutely delicious and easy!! Will make again and again!