Mushroom Truffle Parmesan Pasta

My husband and I both love mushrooms, and truffle oil of course. I had tried truffle oil on dishes in restaurants before but friends of ours turned us on to truffle popcorn (so, so, so good) so I went on the hunt to find the ingredient for myself. I ended up finding it at Sunterra Market, but stores like The Blue Door (check it out if you haven’t visited yet!) carry it as well. I recommend only buying a little bottle because with this ingredient a little really does go a long way. Just makes sure you get a truffle oil of good quality because it really does improve the flavour. I needed to find a few more ways to incorporate truffle oil in our life and mushroom pasta was a natural pairing.

My kids love to eat pasta so it’s an easy sell in our home.  It is so rich and decadent, with flavours of the carmelized mushrooms, creamy parmesan cheese and tangy garlic. It takes about 20 minutes to prepare but it is impressive enough to serve to company. It makes a great meal, which is how we usually eat it or a side dish to proteins. It also keeps well and is great for lunch the next day, just expect a few people popping in to say “something smells good” and “what are you eating?”. Now I’ve been making this dish for years, but never wrote down or measured what I used to make this dish. A “recipe test” technique I always kick myself for later. But I have finally measured and recorded to perfection.  It is very easy to adapt to a vegetarian recipe by swapping the chicken stock for veggie stock or even pasta water.

Mushroom Truffle Parmesan Pasta

serves 4-6 for meal portion or 10-12 for side portion

• 2 tbs of butter
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• 3-4 cups of sliced white mushrooms
• 1 box of pasta- I used linguine this time but have used spaghetti in the past
• 1 cup white wine- I just use whatever is left in my fridge or use it an excuse to open a bottle of wine and have a glass while I make dinner
• 1 cup chicken stock (I’ve also used beef and veggie and it turned out great too)
• 2 cups parmesan petals
• 1/2 tsp truffle oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Put large pot of salted water on to boil.

In a large sauce pan melt the butter on low and then add the minced garlic. Continue to cook on low until fragrant and the garlic just starts to brown, usually about a minute.

Add the sliced mushrooms to the pan and turn up heat to low-medium. Mushrooms should start to slowly brown and caramelize. Stir, but not too often to allow the mushrooms to brown.

By now your water should be boiling, add the pasta to the boiling water. Cook for allowed time then drain or scoop directly from the pot into the pan (once cooked, depending on timing).

Once the mushrooms are golden add the wine and scrape the bottom of the pan to deglaze. Turn heat to medium-high. Reduce while scraping the bottom of the pan to release the brown bits.

Once most of the wine is reduced, add the stock and continue to reduce, scraping the pan until only about a third of the liquid remains. Add one cup of the parmesan to this and stir until sauce becomes smooth and creamy.

Add the cooked pasta to the pan and stir until the sauce and mushrooms are evenly distributed. Turn heat to low, drizzle the truffle oil over the pasta and stir until distributed. Add additional one cup of parmesan and stir until in just begins to melt. Remove from the heat.

Garnish with a few parmesan petals, drips of truffle oil and salt and pepper to taste. Yummy!

Jess