Fat Noodles with Pan-Roasted Mushrooms and Crushed Herb Sauce

Featured in our Fall 2021 issue’s Some of This Season’s Most Delicious Reads by Now Serving’s Ken Concepcion

This method of cooking mushrooms—by pan-roasting them, then finishing with browned butter—is incredibly effective, whether you’re adding them to pasta or not. In the second step, the butter and aromatics wash a ton of flavor over the mushrooms, glossing them up.

4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

Kosher salt; freshly ground pepper
6 garlic cloves, divided
1 lemon
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon mild chile flakes, such as Aleppo pepper
1 shallot
1 pound maitake mushrooms
Chunk of Parmigiano, for grating and serving
2 cups lightly packed herbs (leaves and tender stems), such as parsley, mint, and/or arugula
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound wide pasta noodles, such as lasagnette or pappardelle

Instructions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season it very aggressively with salt (figure ¼ cup salt per 6 quarts water). Pick out the smallest garlic clove and finely grate it into a small bowl. Grate in the zest of the lemon, then stir in 2 tablespoons olive oil and the chile flakes. Season oil mixture with salt and pepper and set aside.

Thinly slice the remaining 5 garlic cloves and the shallot. Trim the mushrooms; tear into bite-size pieces. Juice the zested lemon into a small bowl. Grate enough Parm to yield ¼ cup (save what’s left for passing at the table). Set all aside.

Add the herbs to the boiling water and cook until very softened, 2 minutes. (Cooking the herbs both mellows and deepens their flavor; they will have less fresh brightness but take on a richer, more vegetal flavor.) Use a mesh spider or tongs to remove the herbs and hold them under cold running water until cool enough to handle, about 10 seconds. Squeeze out as much excess liquid as possible. Thinly slice the herbs and stir them into the oil mixture. Taste and adjust with more salt and chile flakes, if desired. Set the herb sauce aside.

Lower heat under the boiling water to maintain a simmer—you want to get your mushrooms going before starting the pasta. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high for 1 minute, then add 3 tablespoons olive oil and half the mushrooms. Cook, tossing, until the mushrooms are coated with oil, then cook, undisturbed, until browned on the underside, 2 to 3 minutes. Season with salt and toss, then cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are browned all over and cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes more. Transfer mushrooms to a large plate and repeat with the remaining 3 tablespoons oil and mushrooms, then add these mushrooms to the first batch. Bring the water back to a boil.

Melt the butter in the Dutch oven over medium heat until it foams, 15 to 30 seconds. Add the sliced garlic and shallot and cook until the garlic and butter are golden brown and the shallot is translucent, about 2 minutes. Return the mushrooms to the pot, along with any accumulated juices, and cook, tossing, until well combined. Lower the heat to keep warm.

Meanwhile, add the pasta to the boiling water and cook, stirring occasionally, until very al dente, 2 to 3 minutes less than the time indicated on the package. Use a mesh spider to transfer pasta to the pot with the mushrooms, then add 1 cup of the pasta cooking liquid. Increase the heat to medium and cook, tossing energetically, until a sauce forms that coats the pasta, 2 minutes. Add the ¼ cup grated cheese, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and another big splash of pasta water and cook, tossing, until cheese is melted and the sauce is clinging to the noodles, 1 to 2 minutes more. Add a few spoonfuls of herb sauce to the pasta and stir to combine. Serve with remaining herb sauce and more cheese at the table.

Reprinted from That Sounds So Good by Carla Lalli Music. Copyright © 2021 by Carla Lalli Music. Photographs copyright © 2021 by Andrea Gentl and Martin Hyers. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.