White wine infused mushrooms, shallots and garlic simmered in vegetable stock, finished with some cream, hand blended until velvety smooth and swirled through al dente Tagliatelle and finished with obligatory fresh parsley. Sound good?
This is our no holds barred Mushroom pasta which is secretly Vegan if you want it to be – all you have to do is use a plant based cream and avoid parmesan. Alternatively if plant based is not your cuppa tea, then feel free to use Double Cream and go HAM at the end with some parmesan cheese.
How to make a Mushroom Sauce
Our mushroom sauce is a bit different to others you may have seen. It consists of 3 parts:
- Making a Mushroom Purée
- Cooking the Pasta
- Cooking the Mushroom garnish
Often mushroom sauces consist of some cooked chopped or sliced mushrooms to which some cream is added, there is no depth and only a hum of mushroom about it. Ours has depth and the mushrooms absolutely sing! The purée is where the magic happens, which we will go into detail more below.
How To Make a Good Mushroom Purée
Here are some key steps to make the based of this dish, a mushroom purée:
- Use a couple different variety of mushrooms to add varying flavour profiles.
- Just roughly chop up the veg for this sauce as it all gets pureed in the end.
- Cook the shallots on a lower heat than regular onions as they burn easier and cook quicker. Same for the garlic.
- Make sure the wine is reduced thoroughly to a syrup like consistency, this removes all the alcohol and intesifies the wine note. Make sure the wine used is one that is wirth drinking, if it’s not good enough to drink it’s not good enough to cook with.
- Similarly, reduce the stock down by about 3/4. It should be intense when tasted, almost too intense, as the cream will soften it a lot.
- Simmer the cream at least for a couple minutes to remove the raw dairy taste.
- Keep blending until fully smooth, this will take some time but it will get there in the end.
- Keep tasting as you go to check each stage. Make sure to taste at the end of the blend too, and adjust the seasoning (i.e. add salt) if needed.
- Fresh herbs add a whole new dimension and should not be overlooked. Use generously, and try out different types – Parsley is a great base, which we use in this recipe.
Video Tutorial
The Recipe
Creamy Mushroom Tagliatelle
A smooth white wine mushroom pureé swirrled with some light plant based cream and simmered into a sauce, which is smoothered over al dente tagliatelle and topped with fresh parsely.
Equipment
- Large Sauce Pan
- Pasta pot / Large Saucepan
- Immersion Blender / Tabletop Blender
- 2x Jugs/Cups
- Frying Pan
- Tongs
- Colander
Ingredients
- 150 g Tagliatelle
- 250 ml Good White Wine
- 150 g Chestnut Mushrooms, brushed from dirt and quartered do not wash
- 4 large Portobelo mushrooms Roughly dice 2, and thinly slice the other 2
- 1 large Echalon shallot, diced
- 200 ml Cream we used plant based cream to keep it vegan
- 1 handful Parsley, finely sliced once over
- 2 Cloves Garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
- 2-3 tbsp Oil for cooking
- 500 ml Vegetable stock jelly stock pot is good here, vegan too
Instructions
Preparation
- Quarter the chestnut mushrooms, dice two portobellos, thinly slice the other two portobellos
- Grate/mince the garlic, dice the shallots
- Measure out the wine and the cream in separate jugs/cups
Making the Mushroom Purée
- Put a large sauce pan on a medium to medium/low heat.
- When hot, add about a tbsp or two of oil and add the shallots and cook for a couple minutes until softened.Top Tip - keep the heat relatively low, as shallots can burn easily. Try not to brown them.
- Once the shallots are softened, add garlic and cook for about 1 minute until fragrant and softened slightly.Top Tip - like the shallots, keep the heat low-ish to avoid burning.
- Add the chopped chustnuts and chopped portobellos to the pan. Keep the sliced portobellos for later.Cook these on a medium heat and sitr often until the water has been released and the mushrooms ave almost halved in size.
- Add the white wine, turn up the heat to high and reduce down until syrupy. Stir occasionally.
- Now add the vegetable stock to the syrupy wine and mushrooms. Simmer this and reduce by roughly 3/4 until very strong in flavour and slightly thicker than water.Top Tip - to know when done, the flavour sound be almost too strong, as the cream will tone it down a great deal. The consistency will have changed from water like, to slightly thicker (just about) than water.
- Once reduced add the cream and simmer again for about 2-3 minutes to cook out the diary taste slightly.
- Take off the heat and begin to carefully blend with your immersion blender. Blend until fully smooth. It should take around 4-5 mins.Top Tip - Use the immersion blender at a slight angle to reach its full potential. Swirl it around the pan including the very edges and ensure each bit get's blended. Alternatively, use a good quality table top blender if you have it.
- Chop up some parsely and throw half into the sauce. Check the seasoning and taste, add salt if needed (it shouldn't if you reduce the stock well). Add a good few twists (about 6-7) of fresh black pepper. Taste again and check the balanace is good.
Cooking the Pasta
- If you can multitask in the kitchen, get the pasta cooking when you add the cream to the pan. If not add once the purée is done, as we will warm it thourgh later.
- Add some water to a large sauce pan or pasta pot and bring to a boil.
- Add a very generous amount of salt to the water and stir.Top Tip - the water should taste almost like sea water, it should be really salty. If you haven't cooked pasta like this, try it, it's a game changer. The amount of salt varies depending on how much water you're using, so add salt, stir and taste. If it's quite salty you're there, if it's not, add more and taste again. Repeat until sea water-esque.
- Cook the pasta accoridng to pack instructions. Top Tip - It should take around 12 minutes from experience, and it's best to set a timer on your phone for 10 minutes so you can taste and check the consistency - we want it al dente, but not too much. We also do not want it mushy.
- Once done, drain in a colander and keep to once side. Top Tip - if leaving the pasta for more than a couple minutes, drizzle with oil and mix to prevent sticking.
Sliced Mushrooms
- Get these going at the same time the pasta goes on - they take roughly the same time.
- Put a frying pan on a medium high heat and add about a tbsp or two of oil
- Add the sliced mushrooms into the pan ensuring each mushroom is touching the bottom. Do not overcrowd.
- After about 5 minutes, or until golden and the edges are crisp, flip over using tongs or chefs tweezers.
- Once cooked on both sides, and slightly golden and cripsy round the edges, remove from the pan and reserve for serving. Reserve the frying pan for serving too.
Bringing the dish together and serving
- In the frying pan, uncleaned and on a low heat, add one persons portion of pasta and a good spoonful of the mushroom purée sauce. Use tongs to twirl the pasta around in the sauce until both are JUST heated through but no more. Should take around 10-15 seconds.
- Use the tongs to place the mushroom coated pasta into some warm bowls. Add a little bit more sauce on top.
- Top with a line of the fried sliced mushrooms (or just dump them on and scatter them about)
- Scatter with some more fresh parsley
- Serve with a nice glass of white wineFeel free to add some parmesan on top if not going vegan.
Notes
- Always prepare every ingredient first if possible. It saves rushing around in the kitchen and prepares you for success!
- When cooking the shallots keep the heat relatively low, as shallots can burn easily. Try not to brown them as the can produce bitter notes. Same for the Garlic.
- To know when the stock reduction is done, the flavour sound be almost too strong, as when we add the cream it will tone down a great deal. The consistency will have changed from water like, to slightly thicker (just about) than water.
- When creating the purée use the immersion blender at a slight angle to reach its full potential. Swirl it around the pan including the very edges and ensure each bit get's blended. Alternatively, use a good quality table top blender if you have it, as it will make life easier.
- Chop the parsley when you need it to retain colour and freshness.
- When cooking pasta, the water should taste almost like sea water, it should be really salty. The amount of salt varies depending on how much water you're using, so add salt, stir and taste. If it's quite salty you're there, if it's not, add more and taste again. Repeat until sea water-esque.
- If leaving the pasta for more than a couple minutes, drizzle with oil and mix to prevent sticking.
- Warming through the pasta and sauce and tossing in the frying pan before serving will ensure the pasta is well coated and warm when serving. Warm bowls are a lovely addition too.
