Creamy Linguine Pasta with Mushrooms and Wine
This creamy linguine pasta with mushrooms is meatless, light, and an easy dinner to make any day of the week.
Ingredients
For the Mushrooms:
- 16 ounces fresh white mushrooms cleaned and thickly sliced
- 1/2 cup chopped onion (yellow or white onions)
- 1-1/2 teaspoons olive oil for the onions
- 3 teaspoons olive oil for the mushrooms
- 4 large cloves garlic peeled and minced
- 1/2 cup white wine Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay (unoaked).
- 1 tablespoon butter (salted)
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes or add to taste
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 dashes salt
- 2 dashes ground black pepper
For the Pasta:
- 4 servings linguine pasta
- 3 - 4 teaspoons salt (for the pasta water)
For the Cream Sauce:
- 3 tablespoons butter (salted)
- 1 cup half-and-half
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 dashes salt or add to taste
- 2 dashes ground black pepper or add to taste
For Assembly and Serving:
- Cream sauce
- Cooked (al-dente) linguine pasta cooked firm, but not hard
- 1/4 cup of the cooked pasta water or a little more if needed for the desired consistency
- Cooked mushroom mixture
- 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese or add to taste
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (curly or Italian parsley)
Instructions
For the Mushrooms:
- Heat a large skillet on medium heat. Add olive oil and chopped onions. Stir.
- Add sliced mushrooms to the pan and top them with drizzles of olive oil. Stir the mushrooms as they cook for about 2 minutes.
- To the pan, add minced garlic and stir. Continue to stir the mushrooms as they cook until the liquid in the pan (from the mushrooms) reduces (about 2 minutes).
- Turn the heat off and add white wine to the pan. Then turn the heat back on and stir as the wine reduces. Add salt, pepper, butter, thyme and red pepper flakes. Stir.
- Once the wine reduces, transfer the mushrooms to a bowl and set aside.The skillet used to cook the mushrooms can also be used to make the cream sauce.
For the Pasta:
- In a medium size pot, bring water to a boil and add salt. To the pot, add the linguine pasta.
- Cook until the pasta is al-dente (firm but not hard) (about 4 minutes or according to package instructions). Using tongs, transfer the cooked (al-dente) pasta from the pot into a large bowl and set aside.
- Don't rinse the pasta. Rinsing removes the starch on the pasta. The starch on the pasta is what helps the sauce stick to the pasta. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water from the pot that the linguine was cooked in. Some of this pasta water may be used when making the creamy pasta.
For the Cream Sauce:
- Heat a large skillet on low to medium heat, add butter and stir. When the butter melts, slowly add half-and-half to the pan and stir.
- Then add grated Parmesan cheese and stir.
For the Creamy Pasta:
- To the pan, add the cooked (al-dente) linguine and 1/4 cup of pasta water.
- Gently stir together to coat the pasta with the cream sauce.If the sauce is too thick, add a little more pasta water to the pan until the desired consistency is reached.
Creamy Pasta with Mushrooms:
- To the pan, add the cooked mushroom mixture, additional grated Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley. Gently stir together.
Serve:
- Serve right away while warm.
Notes
TIPS:
- The skillet used to cook the mushrooms can also be used to make the cream sauce.
- Mushrooms - A good choice for wine when cooking the mushrooms is a dry, crisp white wine such as Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay (unoaked).
- Linguine Pasta - cook the pasta until it's al-dente (firm but not hard), according to package instructions.
- Don't rinse the pasta. Rinsing removes the starch on the pasta. The starch on the pasta is what helps the sauce stick to the pasta.
- Pasta Water - Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water from the pot that the linguine was cooked in. Some of this pasta water may be used when making the creamy pasta.
- Cream Sauce - 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh thyme is used in this recipe. If preferred 1 teaspoon of dried thyme can be used instead. (note - although the conversion of fresh to dried thyme is generally more than 1 teaspoon of dried thyme, I've found that just 1 teaspoon of dried thyme tastes best in this recipe).
- For the Creamy Pasta - If the sauce is too thick, add a little more pasta water to the pan until the desired consistency is reached.