Creamy Mushroom Pasta, a super simple pasta recipe featuring garlic, mushrooms, and a porcini and truffle sauce. This 7 ingredient mushroom pasta dish is a flavorful crowd-pleaser and it's ready in under 30 minutes!
If you love mushrooms, this recipe is for you! It's rich and indulgent, with a kick of flavor from the porcini and truffle sauce that really takes it over the top.
The creamy mushroom pasta sauce in this dish is one that you don't see often in Italian recipes, as cream isn't an ingredient that we use very often. However, there are some common pasta dishes that use cream, like pasta with ham, peas, and cream, penne al salmone, pasta alla norcina, and of course this mushroom pasta.
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🍴Why you should make it
Here are a few reasons why you should be making pasta with mushrooms, garlic, and truffle sauce:
- It's easy to make. You don't need a lot of time to make creamy mushroom pasta. It's easy enough for a busy weeknight meal, but it's also impressive enough to serve to guests at your next gathering.
- It's tasty. The porcini and truffle sauce really takes the flavor of this recipe up a notch! However, this pasta dish is still delicious without it--so it's no problem if you don't have truffle sauce on hand.
🍄 Ingredients you'll need
- Penne pasta: The type of noodle used in this dish. Rigatoni, bowtie pasta, or rotini would also work.
- Olive oil: A staple ingredient in just about every Italian kitchen. It adds tons of flavor to this pasta dish.
- Garlic cloves: A couple of garlic cloves are used to enhance the flavor of the sauce.
- Crimini mushrooms: You'll need 2 cups of fresh, sliced crimini mushrooms for this recipe. While crimini mushrooms work great, white button, porcini, oyster, or really any other type of mushroom can be used too.
- Whipping cream: This is what makes the mushroom pasta sauce extra creamy and delicious!
- Porcini and truffle sauce: All you need is 2 tablespoons of porcini and truffle sauce to add extra flavor.
- Parmigiano reggiano and salt: Finish off the dish by sprinkling some parmigiano reggiano over the top and a pinch of salt.
📋 How to make Creamy Mushroom Pasta: Step by Step
Cook the pasta: Boil water in a large pot. When water is boiling, salt the water and throw the penne in. Cook the penne until before al dente - this is important, it will finish cooking in the sauce.
Start making the sauce: Just before you throw the penne into the boiling water, start making the sauce. In a large pan, heat up the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the garlic cloves (photo 1)
Once the garlic cloves are sizzling and fragrant, throw in the sliced mushrooms (photo 2) Add salt to the pan, then cover it with a lid and let the mushrooms cook down until they're tender (about 8-10 minutes), remove the garlic cloves (photo 3).
Add the cream to the sauce: Add the cream and more salt if needed (photo 4). Let it warm through, about 3-5 minutes.
Mix pasta with the creamy mushroom sauce: Now it's time to add the pasta to the pan! Stir everything together, add pasta water (optional) and let the cream thicken. Allow the pasta to finish cooking in the pan (this will take about 3-5 minutes).
Add porcini and truffle sauce and cheese: Mix the porcini and truffle sauce in with the rest of the ingredients (photo 6). Then, add the parmigiano reggiano (photo 7), and give everything one final mix. Top with additional parmigiano reggiano if desired. Enjoy! (photo 8)
💭 FAQ
You can substitute cremini mushrooms with just about any other type of mushroom! Try white mushrooms or portobello. Porcini or oyster mushrooms can also be used in place of cremini mushroom varieties.
Cremini mushrooms are often referred to as "baby bella" mushrooms. They are sometimes called "baby portobello" mushrooms as well.
You can make mushroom pasta without cream simply by leaving the cream out of the recipe, and using a different ingredient instead. Try using milk instead of cream, or just stick with using the porcini and truffle sauce (note that it won't be as "creamy" if you leave the dairy out completely). You could also make mushroom pasta with a tomato sauce.
♨️ How to store and reheat
This pasta is best served fresh, right after it is made. If you have leftovers, store them in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
To reheat: heat a bit of olive oil in a nonstick pan and saute until warmed through (recommended), or heat up in the microwave until warm (every microwave is different, so the time needed will depend on your microwave).
🍝 More easy Italian pasta recipes
Love this creamy garlic mushroom pasta? Give my other delicious pasta dishes a try:
If you tried making this Creamy Mushroom Pasta, or any other recipe on the blog, please let me know what you thought of it in the comments below. I love hearing from you! You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest to see more delicious food and what I’ve been up to.
Recipe
Creamy Mushroom Pasta
Ingredients
- 200 g penne pasta
- 2 tablespoon olive oil extra virgin
- 2 garlic cloves whole
- 2 cups fresh crimini mushrooms sliced
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 2 tablespoon porcini and truffle sauce
- 2 tablespoon parmigiano reggiano grated
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Boil water in a large pot. When water is boiling, salt the water and throw the penne in. Cook the penne until before al dente - this is important, they will finish cooking in the sauce.
- Just before the penne are thrown into the water - start the sauce. In a large pan, heat up the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the garlic cloves in. Once garlic cloves are sizzling and fragrant, thrown in the sliced mushrooms.
- Add salt. Stir, and cover with a lid, (still on medium-low heat) and let the mushrooms cook down, until they’re tender (about 8-10 minutes), remove the garlic cloves.
- Add the cream in. Add more salt if necessary. Let it warm through - about 3-5 minutes.
- Add the pasta to the pan. Stir everything together, add pasta water (optional) let the cream thicken, and let the pasta finish cooking in the pan (at least 3-5 minutes for the cream to thicken).
- Add the porcini and truffle sauce, as well as the parmigiano reggiano, and give everything one final mix.
- Serve and top with additional parmigiano if desired. Enjoy!
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- Using whole gloved of garlic and then removing them is a common Italian cooking technique. In traditional Italian coking, garlic flavor is meant to be very subtle. If you'd prefer a stronger garlic flavor, you can mince the garlic and keep it in the sauce instead of using the whole cloves.
- You can omit the porcini and truffle sauce - it does a lot of flavor so I recommend adding it if you can. But the pasta will still be delicious without it.
- Here is the exact porcini and truffle sauce I used. Here is another spread that would work very well.
lyn says
what is a substitute for truffle porcini sauce?