Sometimes you need a luxurious and special pasta, like this Creamy Smoked Garlic and Wild Mushroom Pasta. The ingredients are elegant, served simply to show off their unique flavors. The perfect dish to celebrate a special occasion or date night, or just to because you want to celebrate gorgeous seasonal produce.
Wild Mushrooms really come into their own in Autumn, so this dish would be amazing with some locally foraged mushrooms. Use the backdrop of the smoked garlic sauce to really make the mushroom flavours sing.
If you love mushrooms in pasta, try this easy Mushroom and Pesto Pasta, or if you're wanting a fancier mushroom dish, these Vegan Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms are delicious and perfect for date night.
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🧄Ingredients
The ingredients you need are simple for this smoked garlic pasta with mushrooms recipe.
- Smoked Garlic: Use a whole bulb of smoked garlic, it's milder than regular garlic, especially once it's been roasted. You can also use jarred smoked garlic puree if you wish.
- Mixed Wild Mushrooms: Choose a variety of different types of mushrooms according to what is available to you. I've used shitake, oyster mushrooms and beech mushrooms. You can also use chestnut or cremini mushrooms if you wish.
- Pasta of choice: I like using spaghetti or linguine with this dish.
- Nutritional Yeast: This replaces parmesan cheese, and has a lovely savory nutty cheesy flavor.
- Oat or Soya Cream: Make sure to choose unsweetened vegan cream! If you can find vegan sour cream then that's even better.
- Olive Oil: A good quality extra virgin olive oil is needed as it does enhance the subtle flavors.
- Cavolo Nero : Also known as black kale. It pairs beautifully with the mushrooms.
- Flakey Sea Salt and Cracked Black Pepper: to taste.
- Optional red pepper flakes or fresh chili: if you like a little heat with your pasta.
- A little optional white wine vinegar or a squeeze of lemon juice. The acidity helps to balance the rich flavors.
See recipe card for quantities.
👩🍳Instructions
Follow along for how to make this delicious Wild Mushroom and Smoked Garlic Pasta recipe.
1. Chop the top off the smoked garlic and drizzle olive oil into it. Roast at 180c/356F in a little roasting dish or in aluminium foil until the garlic is softened. About 20 mins. Allow to cool, then squeeze out the now softened garlic ready to use.
Put a put of water on to boil for the pasta, and cook as per the packet instructions.
2. Pick over and wipe the fresh wild mushrooms. Tear or chop any larger ones. Add to a large pan WITHOUT any oil to roast, stirring to make sure they don't stick. The mushrooms will lose their liquids and soften.
3. Add a little olive oil to the pan and stir in the roasted garlic you just squeezed out. Add chili. Allow to cook down for a few minutes.
4. Add the sliced cavolo nero to the pan and let it wilt down.
5. Add the vegan cream to the mushrooms, along with the nutritional yeast and let cook for a few minuted.
6. Finally, drain the pasta, then add the cooked pasta to the pan with the mushrooms and stir.
Serve immediately with an optional sprinkle of fresh parsley and cracked black pepper.
Hint: Cooking the mushrooms without any oil ensures you maximise the mushroom flavors. It sort of 'roasts' the mushrooms. They'll end up losing water and this intensifies their mushroom essence.
🌶️Substitutions & Variations
Here are some easy ways you can switch up this mushroom and smoked garlic pasta.
- Non-Smoked Garlic: you don't have to use smoked garlic, just use a regular non-smoked whole head of garlic.
- Jarred Garlic- you can buy pretty good smoked garlic (or non-smoked) in a jar or even a tube.
- Extra Zesty- zest a lemon and sprinkle over lemon zest at the end just before serving.
- Other veggies- you can use broccolini or asparagus to replace the cavolo nero.
🔪Equipment
You'll need a sharp knife and a large pan to sautee the mushrooms and garlic pasta sauce, plus a saucepan to boil the pasta.
🫙Storage
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a 5 days. Reheat gently with a splash of water in a pan, or in the microwave. This dish is not suitable for freezing.
Top tip
The mushrooms taste best when dry pan roasted until they lose their moisture, before adding the garlic and oil to finish cooking them off.
❓FAQ
Choose any edible mushroom you wish. It's a good way to show off slightly fancier mushrooms such as chanterelle, morels or porcini mushrooms, or is equally delicious with white button or crimini mushrooms.
More Vegan Mushroom Recipes
Love Mushrooms? Here are some other great vegan mushroom recipes:
Vegan Pasta:
I can never have enough pasta, why not try these easy vegan recipes:.
📖 Recipe
Creamy Smoked Garlic and Wild Mushroom Pasta
Equipment
- 1 Large frying pan
Ingredients Note:
For accuracy, I measure all ingredients in metric as standard, then convert and test the recipe for American cup measurements etc.
(Heads up Aussie and UK readers- your measurements in cups are sometimes different, so please use metric or check you have the correct cup and spoon type!!)
Ingredients
- 1 head smoked garlic
- 250 g (9 oz) mixed wild mushrooms
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 200 ml (⅘ cups) soy cream
- 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast (use more if you like a cheesier flavour)
- 150 g (5 ⅓ oz) Cavolo Nero leaves (or other leafy green veggie. Finely chopped!)
- 1 mild chilli (or 1 teaspoon chilli flakes) (optional but yummy if you like heat!)
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- 200 g (7 oz) dried spaghetti (or other long thin pasta)
Instructions
For the Roasted Smoked Garlic
- Chop the top off the whole garlic head and drizzle olive oil over. Wrap in foil or place in a mini casserole dish.
- Roast the garlic head whole for around 30 mins in a moderate oven at 180C . Remove from the oven when the garlic is squishy & soft (poke the outer clove a bit to find out!)1 head smoked garlic
- Once cooled down a bit, squeeze & squish all the lovely smoked garlic out of their papery exterior ready to use in the pasta sauce
For the Pasta & Sauce
- Put the water on to boil for the pasta. Salt it well.
- Clean & trim the mushrooms. Cut or tear any large ones into fine strips. Chop the Cavolo Nero, discarding any hard stems. Chop the chilli if using.250 g mixed wild mushrooms, 150 g Cavolo Nero leaves
- In a large pan, sautee the mushrooms in no oil. This roasts the mushrooms, enhancing their flavor. They will start to give out water. Roast until their juices start to sizzle and dry up.
- Now add the olive oil, chilli (if using) and the smoked garlic puree.1 head smoked garlic, 3 tablespoon olive oil, 1 mild chilli (or 1 teaspoon chilli flakes)
- By now the pasta water should be boiled. Add the pasta in & cook according to packet (around 8-10 mins usually)200 g dried spaghetti
- Add the garlic, herbs and an optional splash of wine to the mushrooms and mix well.1 mild chilli (or 1 teaspoon chilli flakes), 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- Add the soya cream, herbs, and nutritional yeast. Sizzle well & mix to combine.200 ml soy cream, 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- Add the Cavolo Nero & mix so it cooks down a bit. Season to taste.150 g Cavolo Nero leaves
- By now the pasta should be cooked. Reserve a cup of the pasta water and drain the rest of the pasta.
- Mix the drained pasta in with the mushroom & garlic mixture. Stir well. Add a little of the reserved pasta water to loosen it up.
- Drizzle extra good olive oil over & add some extra nutritional yeast. Season as needed with salt & pepperSalt & Pepper to taste
- Serve! Delicious with a glass of white wine & some salad.
Notes
- Non-Smoked Garlic: you don't have to use smoked garlic, just use a regular non-smoked whole head of garlic.
- Jarred Garlic- you can buy pretty good smoked garlic (or non-smoked) in a jar or even a tube.
- Extra Zesty- zest a lemon and sprinkle over lemon zest at the end just before serving.
- Other veggies- you can use broccolini or asparagus to replace the cavolo nero.
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