If fall were a pasta dish, this would be it for me. This pasta dish is filled with umami flavors from the miso and the variety of mushrooms. It’s a cozy bowl of pasta that will get you in the mood for fall. Below are a couple of tips that make this 30-minute pasta dish foolproof.
key ingredients
- Mushrooms: I used a variety of mushrooms including oyster, maitake (aka Hen of the Woods) and shiitake mushrooms. Chanterelles would also be a wonderful option for this pasta dish. If you had to opt for only one mushroom, I recommend at the very least, the shiitake mushrooms. They are easier to find at most markets and they have enough earthy smoky flavor to bring this dish together.
- Yellow Miso: White or red miso are good substitutes but I found that the yellow miso brought more balance to the cream sauce where it didn’t overpower the other ingredients.
- Butter
- Heavy Cream
- Garlic
- Bucatini: Rigatoni or penne are also good substitute options.
3 foolproof tips
1. clean & Prep the mushrooms properly
Excess moisture is the enemy when it comes to sautéing mushrooms properly. Mushrooms are porous so they will soak up liquid like a sponge. Also, most mushrooms you find at the market are grown at indoor farms and not harvested from the wild. If you wash the mushrooms with water, you will most likely end up with soggy mushrooms instead of charred flavorful mushrooms.
I clean most of my mushrooms with a brush or a dry towel. Just brush or wipe off any remaining dirt off the mushrooms. Pastry brushes or a paper towel will do the trick.
Also, some mushrooms like oyster and maitake should not be cut with a knife because they are delicate. You can tear the mushrooms apart with your fingers (as shown in picture below).
2. Sauté the mushrooms dry
The best way to develop that golden char around the mushrooms is to sauté them dry in a skillet over high heat. When I’m sautéing mushrooms, I prefer to use my wok because it conducts heat quickly and sears the mushrooms quicker. It’s also a great way to further season your wok! After about 3 minutes of sautéing, you should start to see the moisture being released out of the mushrooms and then the charring will begin to happen. Once you see golden char forming around the edges of the mushroom, you can then add the cooking oil and salt and pepper to the mushrooms. This step is crucial because we want to release as much flavor from the mushrooms for our miso mushroom cream sauce.
whisk the miso with pasta water
Instead of adding the yellow miso directly into the pan with the cream sauce, dissolve the miso in the reserved hot pasta water so that there are no miso lumps in the sauce.
I also reserve about 2 cups of pasta water in case I need to thin out the sauce more.
Garnish with scallions and if you’d like to add a little kick to your pasta, add your favorite Chinese chili sauce or shichimi togorashi. Enjoy!
30-Minute Miso Mushroom Bucatini
Ingredients
- 1 lb dried bucatini
- 1.5 lb shitake, maitake (hen of the woods), chanterelle, and/or oyster mushrooms chopped or pulled apart into bite size pieces
- 1/4 cup yellow miso paste
- 2 tbsp minced garlic
- 1/2 cup butter
- 2 cups pasta water
- 1/2 cup pecorino romano grated
- 1/2 cup parmesan grated
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 scallion finely chopped
- 4 tsp olive oil
- salt + cracked black pepper
Instructions
Cook the Mushrooms
- Set a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat.
- Add the mushrooms to the hot skillet. (Do not add oil!). Sauté the mushrooms for about 5 minutes until they develop brown charring. TIP: Make sure not to overcrowd the pan to prevent the mushrooms from steaming. Depending on the size of your skillet, you may have to cook the mushrooms in batches.
- When the mushrooms looks about done, add about 1-2 tsp of olive oil to the mushrooms and season them with salt and black pepper. Sauté the mushrooms for one last minute and then transfer them to a bowl.
Cook the Pasta
- Bring a large pot of water to boil. Generously season the water with kosher salt and then cook the pasta al dente.
- Reserve two cups of pasta water and set aside.
Make the Miso Mushroom Sauce
- While the pasta water is still hot, add the miso to a cup of pasta water and whisk until all the miso paste has dissolved.
- Set a large skillet over medium heat and add the butter. Once the butter has melted, add the minced garlic and sauté for about 30 seconds. Then add in the sautéed mushrooms, miso-pasta water and heavy cream. Bring the sauce to a gentle boil and then reduce the heat to low. Simmer the sauce for about 2 minutes until it thickens.
- Then turn off the heat and add the grated pecorino. Stir until the pecorino is melted into the sauce.
- Then add the cooked bucatini to the sauce and stir until the pasta is well coated. TIP: The sauce may thicken further once you add the bucatini. If so, add additional pasta water to thin out the sauce.
- Plate the pasta and garnish with grated parmesan and scallions. Serve immediately. Enjoy!
Do you recommend salted or unsalted butter?
I recommend unsalted butter
If we wanted to add a protein to this dish, what would you reccomend?
Chicken would work well for this dish. If you like scallops, seared scallops would be lovely too.
Made this tonight and it was absolutely delicious!
I couldn’t find yellow miso so used white miso instead. It is very rich for me, so next time I might skip the pecorino romano: I tasted sauce before adding the cheese and it was already tasting great.
So happy to hear you enjoyed it! And love that you adjusted it to your liking. Thank you for sharing!