What you'll need

  • Mushroom (shiitake, portobello, I used champignons)
  • Parsley or Cilantro
  • Heavy cream
  • Parmesan
  • Oil, Butter
  • Shallots
  • Pasta
  • Lemon (optional)

What you'll do

Put some water on the fire and add some salt - that's our pasta water.

Heat the oil in a large pan. Cut the mushrooms in thumb-sized pieces (bigger is also O.K. if you prefer). Sautee them in the oil until golden brown - if you have a lot of mushrooms it's better to do it in batches or it will take forever since mushrooms can release water when cooking. Each batch should take 5-8 minutes on medium heat.

Add the pasta to the boiling pasta water - you'll cook it until al dente (= the time it says on the package minus 2 minutes)

Chop your shallot and make it sweat in the pan for 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms back in. Add the cream (around 1/2 cup, that's 150 ml) and let it simmer for a few minutes. Add the pasta in. Add the parsley or cilantro - if you used parsley you can add some lemon zest to compensate for the missing tang. Take off the heat and add lemon zest if needed, lemon juice if you like it, plenty of parmesan and some butter to make the ensemble thick and creamy.

Serve with some parmesan on top.

What you'll get