Mushroom Pasta

 

I'm so excited to share this recipe because not only is pasta one of my favorite foods (seriously it's been hard not posting all the pasta recipes I make), this one is Japanese inspired. There's something about Italian cuisine that has captured the hearts of the Japanese. There are thousands of Italian restaurants just in Tokyo. But what makes Italian so special there, is that they have created their own genre of Japanese-Italian. If you live in New York, you may have heard of or tried the dishes at Basta Pasta. They have some Japanese-Italian pastas but I still can't get my favorites there so I've been honing the recipe for my favorite mushroom pasta. And I've finally found it. It has so much umami from the sautéed mushrooms, bacon, butter and soy sauce and as usual, it's really quick and easy to make.

For the mushrooms, the Asian varieties are the best but you can definitely grab whatever's available in your grocery stores. I really like enoki and shimeji mushrooms so I've used them for this recipe. Other mushrooms to consider are fresh shiitake (just remove the stems), oyster, maitake/hen of the woods, chanterelles, and portabello. If you've found some enoki and shimeji mushrooms, you'll need to chop off the roots and separate out the mushrooms. Shimeji falls apart pretty quickly but you'll need to work the enoki. No need to get stressed out about it, just break them into smaller strands.

Since there are minimal ingredients in this dish, it's important to use quality ingredients. I used plugra unsalted butter (salted is fine too since it's in such a small quantity but I always cook with unsalted) and imported kikkoman soy sauce. For olive oil, use good extra virgin. Butter, soy sauce, and olive oil make for an incredible combination. You can actually use it for much more than just pasta (try it in your next en papillote baked fish or vegetables).

Mushroom Pasta

 

Cuisine: Japanese

Author: Yukari

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Total time: 20 mins

Serves: 2 servings

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb linguine (or preferred pasta)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, smashed
• 3 slices bacon, sliced into 1/4" strips
• 1 packet shimeji mushroom
• 1 packet enoki mushroom
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 scallion, sliced
• 1 sheet of nori, julienned (easiest using kitchen shears)
• Salt for pasta water

Instructions

1. Boil a large pot of salted water (should taste like the sea) and cook pasta until al dente (follow box instructions)
2. Heat a large pan and coat with olive oil
3. Add the smashed garlic clove and remove once golden brown
4. Add the bacon
5. Once the bacon starts getting color, add the mushrooms and sauté (if using portabello or shiitake, slice the mushrooms first)
6. Once the mushrooms start wilting, add the butter and soy sauce and toss a couple times
7. Add the pasta into the pan with 1/4 cup of the pasta water and toss to coat
8. Plate and garnish with scallions and nori