Miso Mushroom Pasta
Miso Mushroom Pasta is loaded with umami flavour, featuring cremini mushrooms, white miso, parmesan cheese, broccoli, and orecchiette pasta. Fresh herbs and lemon juice brighten and make this pasta absolutely SING!
Ready in about 30 minutes, this pasta is perfect to satisfy your pasta cravings even on a busy weeknight. You can save even more time, by purchasing pre-sliced mushrooms & broccoli, and pre-shredded parmesan cheese.
How long does Miso Mushroom Pasta take to make?
If you are prepping all the ingredients, such as chopping broccoli, slicing mushrooms, and shredding cheese, this recipe takes 30 minutes!
Let’s talk about the ingredients for Miso Mushroom Pasta
Pasta – You can use any pasta you like — really! I’ve used orecchiette here for this post. I’ve allowed for 85g of pasta per person, so if you’re scaling this recipe up or down, keep that number in mind.
Mushrooms — I’ve used cremini mushrooms — also known as “baby bellas”. They’re browner than your standard white mushroom. You can use whatever mushroom you like.
Broccoli — I like the addition of the bright green crunch of broccoli to this dish. Any green vegetable would work.
Evaporated milk — to lighten up this dish, I’ve used canned evaporated milk in place of heavy cream. It is one-third of the calories of cream and half the fat! It’s a great pantry item to have on hand, to use as a heavy cream substitute. You can’t taste the difference!
White Miso Paste — also known as Shiro Miso, this is the miso paste you use to make miso soup. It is a very useful pantry staple to have on hand. I keep mine in the refrigerator after opening and it seems to last forever! Your mileage may vary, of course, but it’s just one of those ingredients that does it all. Miso brings that “umami” flavour to this dish, as well as saltiness.
Parmesan cheese — another umami-packed ingredient, parmesan also acts to slightly thicken and bind our dish together.
Can I Make Substitutions?
Pasta – Really, you can use any pasta you like! It’s just as delicious with linguine as a short pasta like rigatoni or penne. Use whatever you have!
Mushrooms — I’ve used cremini mushrooms, but you can use any mushroom or combination of mushrooms. Try mixed wild mushrooms, shiitake, portabello, etc.
White Miso — If you can’t find white miso, you can use red miso. I would use a little less than the recipe calls for.
Broccoli — I like the crunch and slight bitterness of the broccoli, but instead of broccoli you could try broccolini, green beans, or spinach.
Can Miso Mushroom Pasta be Vegan and Dairy-Free?
Yes, and here’s how I would change it up to make this dish vegan and dairy-free:
- Substitute the evaporated milk with soy milk
- Substitute the parmesan cheese for 2 tbsp. nutritional yeast
How to add more protein to Miso Mushroom Pasta
Add ground turkey, pork, or Italian sausage.
The Miso Mushroom Pasta Method
For success in this (or any) recipe, gather and prepare all your ingredients before you get staretd. Read through the recipe carefully and have all the pots, pans, etc. ready to go.
First, get your pasta cooking by adding it to a large pot of water. Normally you would salt your pasta water well, however for this recipe you would not salt the water. The reason is that the white miso, and parmesan are very salty and since you would be using the pasta water in finishing the pasta, you don’t really need the added salt.
While the pasta is cooking, you will sauté the mushrooms until they’re beautifully golden brown. Then add diced shallots and minced garlic, and sauté until fragrant.
Add the evaporated milk, miso paste, and parmesan cheese, and stir until everything is mixed together.
When the pasta is about a minute from being done, reserve about a cup of pasta water and add in chopped broccoli florets.
By now the pasta will be done, so drain that and add it to the mushroom miso mixture. Toss to emulsify into a smooth sauce, and add reserved pasta water, a bit at a time until smooth.
Lastly, add the chopped thyme and parsley, lemon juice, lemon zest, and finish with a tiny pat of butter. Garnish with more grated parmesan cheese, if you like!
Miso Mushroom Pasta
Equipment
- 1 Large pot
- 1 Large skillet
Ingredients
- 12 oz pasta of your choice or 340g
- 4 cups sliced mushrooms of your choice or 454g
- 2 cups broccoli florets
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 shallot finely diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tbsp white miso paste aka Shiro miso
- ½ cup evaporated milk or 125 ml
- ½ cup parmesan cheese grated
- Juice & zest from ½ lemon
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
- 2 tsp butter
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large pot of boiling water, add pasta and cook until al dente.
- While the pasta is cooking, start the mushrooms by heating a large frying pan over medium high heat with a tablespoon of olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the mushrooms.
- Cook mushrooms until golden brown — 5-8 minutes. Then add diced shallots and garlic. Cook until fragrant, about one more minute.
- Add the miso paste, evaporated milk, and parmesan, and stir until sauce is smooth.
- By now the pasta should almost be done. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water, and then add the broccoli florets to the pot with the pasta. After a minute, the broccoli will be bright green and the pasta will be cooked. Drain and add pasta and broccoli to the frying pan with the mushroom mixture.
- Toss to combine and emulsify the sauce. Add reserved pasta cooking water, a bit at a time, until sauce becomes smooth and clings to the pasta. Last, add lemon juice, lemon zest, chopped thyme and parsley, and the butter. Stir until smooth.
- Divide pasta among 4 bowls. Serve with more parmesan cheese if desired.