RIGATONI PASTA WITH MUSHROOMS, SAGE & BROWN BUTTER

This mushroom pasta recipe is easy to make and incredibly delicious! The sage butter parmigiano sauce is freshened up with a touch of lemon zest and crispy sage leaves.

Measurements below are approximate. It’s no sin to be heavy-handed with the butter and cheese.

Ingredients I used:

– Fresh mushrooms (pictured is lion’s mane), sliced @threecfarms
– Extra virgin olive oil, to taste @getkristinas
– 5 tablespoons of butter
– 1 shallot, chopped
– 20 fresh sage leaves
– Splash (or two) of white wine
– Zest of 1 lemon
– Lots of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, shaved
-Rigatoni pasta @dicecco
– Salt, to taste
– Freshly cracked pepper, to taste

Preparation:

Coat the bottom of a large pan with olive oil and heat over medium-high.

Brown mushrooms in batches until golden brown on both sides, adding more oil to the pan as needed.

Transfer all cooked mushrooms to a plate and set aside.

Lower heat to medium, and add more oil to same pan.

Sweat chopped shallot until softened —  do not burn.

Return mushrooms to the pan and add a splash or two of white wine enough to cover the bottom of the pan.

Scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon, and allow the alcohol to evaporate.

Season to taste with salt and pepper and take off heat.

Cook pasta according to package directions for 2 minutes short of al dente.

In the meantime, melt butter in a small pan over medium heat.

When the foam and milk solids begin to turn brown, lower heat and then carefully add sage leaves and fry until crispy, a few seconds.

Do not wash sage beforehand — they will splatter.

Reheat mushrooms over medium-low heat.

Transfer drained, under-cooked pasta to the pan with mushrooms and mix in the brown butter.

Then add a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil to further coat pasta– everything should be glossy.

Add a bit of reserved pasta water to loosen things up. Mix in lemon zest.

Take off heat once everything is incorporate, warmed through and pasta reaches al dente.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Since this is a simple dish, achieving the correct balance of salt is important to bring out the subtle flavours in the other ingredients.

If it tastes bland, add more salt.

Serve immediately with shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and the fried sage leaves on top.

Click here for Rigatoni Pasta with Mushrooms, Sage & Brown Butter on Instagram

Click here to find more delicious recipes at @rbm_cooking

All photos by Rosa Basile-Marrello