Mushroom Carbonara with Orecchiette

I found one additional recipe that I’ve been waiting to share from Bon Appétit’s popular recipe list. Most of these popular recipes are comfort food dishes- no surprise!

This vegetarian carbonara has wonderful rich flavor from the deeply browned mushrooms combined with shallots and garlic. Genius. The luxurious sauce is made with the traditional Italian method, using egg yolks and cheese. This recipe is from Bon Appétit, contributed by Molly Baz. Very nice.

Yield: Serves 4 to 6

• Kosher salt
• 1 1/2 lbs crimini or button mushrooms, stemmed and quartered
• 6 garlic cloves
• 2 medium shallots
• 1 cup parsley leaves with tender stems (about ½ bunch)
• 5 large egg yolks
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/4 cups (4 oz) freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving (I used Parmigiano-Reggiano)
• 1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, plus more
• 4 T extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 lb orecchiette

1. Fill a large pot with water and season well with a few big pinches of salt. Bring to a boil.
2. Meanwhile, tear off and discard stems of mushrooms, then tear them into quarters (or in halves if small). Transfer to a medium bowl.
3. Lightly smash and peel the garlic cloves, then thinly slice.
4. Peel and finely chop the shallots.
5. Coarsely chop the parsley.
6. Whisk the egg yolks, whole egg, Parmesan, and freshly ground black pepper in another medium bowl; set aside.
7. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high for a good 3 minutes. You want to get the pan very hot since adding the mushrooms is going to lower the temperature of the surface of the pan.
8. Toss mushrooms and 4 T extra-virgin olive oil once in pan to coat in oil. Cook, tossing once every 4–5 minutes (but mostly undisturbed), until mushrooms are mostly golden brown, 13–16 minutes. This will take some time and they will let out a lot of moisture before they start to brown.
9. Once mushrooms have been cooking for about 10 minutes, put the orecchiette into boiling salted water and set a timer 2 minutes shy of al dente according to package directions.
10. When the mushrooms are deeply browned, reduce heat to medium-low and add garlic, shallots, and 1½ teaspoons of salt. Cook, stirring often, until aromatics are softened but not browned, 30–60 seconds.
11. When pasta is 2 minutes shy of al dente, reserve 2 cups pasta cooking liquid, then drain pasta.
12. Add pasta along with 1 cup pasta cooking liquid to mushroom mixture. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring often to finish cooking the pasta and absorb liquid, about 2 minutes (this is why you’re cooking the pasta 2 minutes shy of al dente; it allows for the flavors to meld as the pasta finishes cooking in the sauce).
13. Remove from heat and let cool 1 minute. (Don’t skip this step—if the pasta is too hot when you add the egg mixture, it will turn into scrambled eggs instead of a luxurious sauce.)
14. Add 1/2 cup pasta cooking liquid to reserved egg mixture and whisk to combine and loosen eggs.
15. Gradually add egg mixture to pot, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon and adding more pasta cooking liquid as needed to loosen things up, until a very creamy, luscious sauce coats all noodles.
16. Add parsley and stir again to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning for salt.
17. Divide pasta among bowls. Top with Parmesan and a few cranks of pepper.

About Josette@thebrookcook

I live in Stony Brook, New York on Long Island. I love garlic and baking. My hobby (and love) is to try new recipes. My favorite recipe resources include The New York Times, Food and Wine, Bon Appetit, and Martha Stewart Living. Enjoy!

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