Rigatoni with Creamy Mushroom Sauce
Tender tubes of pasta smothered in a wine-infused, garlic-and-parmesan cream sauce. Each bite delivers nutty, cheesy, umami goodness. Easy, healthy, vegetarian, and ready in minutes.
We use plenty of mushrooms in this incredible pasta dish! I’m talking a whopping 12 ounces of mushrooms! What type of mushrooms should you use? I used half shiitake and half cremini (baby bella) mushrooms. I prefer wild mushrooms for this dish because they’re much more flavorful than button mushrooms. That said, use your favorite mushroom variety, or blend of mushrooms. They all work here.
I used rigatoni, but you can use any pasta shape you want. I chose meaty rigatoni because the hearty noodles hold up to the rich, mushroom-forward cream sauce. You can also use penne, farfalle (bowties), gemelli, or your favorite pasta shape.
Do you need to add the wine to the sauce? Sweet wine adds incredible depth of flavor to the sauce, so I highly recommend you use it. You can use white wine, sherry wine, or marsala wine, just note that marsala and sherry wines are a bit sweeter. If you want to eliminate the wine altogether, use chicken or vegetable broth instead.
Rigatoni with Creamy Mushroom Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 pound rigatoni pasta, or pasta shape of choice
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup sliced yellow onion
- 12 ounces mixed mushrooms, such as cremini/baby bella and shiitake, thinly sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3/4 cup dry white wine, or sherry wine, or marsala wine
- 1 cup chicken broth, or vegetable broth (note that veggie broth is slightly sweet)
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to the package directions, reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water.
- Meanwhile, melt the butter and olive oil together in a large saucepan or high-sided skillet over medium-high heat. When the butter is bubbly, add the onion and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until soft. Add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes, until tender and releasing liquid. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the wine and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the wine reduces by half. Add the chicken broth and return to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the cream. Simmer for 5 minutes, until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.
- Fold in the pasta and 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta cooking water. If necessary, fold in the remaining 1/4 cup of reserved pasta water.
- Remove the pan from the heat and fold in the parmesan cheese. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.
- Top with parsley and serve with extra parmesan cheese on the side.