This simple, creamy mushroom pappardelle is loaded with cremini mushrooms and flavored with white wine in a delicious cream sauce.
Since we rang in the New Year, the day job has become the day-and-night job. And everywhere in between. Last weekend I holed up in a local coffee shop to work for the day and the highlight was looking up long enough to spot my friend Tiffany stopped at the intersection in front of me singing what I later found out was “I Think We’re Alone Now” by Tiffany. Some of you might laugh, but I would totally do the same thing. She’s kind of like my pop-culture soulmate, much to the amusement of our other friends.
But with work kicking my proverbial you-know-what, I am sadly not spending as much time here – or in the kitchen for that matter. When I do have the spare time, my brain is fried and I am not motivated to cook, photo, write, repeat. Which is why I turn to dinners like this one. It’s homemade, but it’s so ridiculously easy that I found time to make it in the brief break between 5 p.m. and when I start working again. And this one is a dish the whole family enjoyed. Plump mushrooms, chunks of sausage, and long ribbons of pappardelle, all robed in a creamy sauce. Yeah, that’s comfort on a plate after a long day of work.
If you want a vegetarian meal, you can very easily skip the sausage and have a simple meatless creamy mushroom papparedelle. And if you’re pressed for time, you can skip the topping, but it adds a lot of flavor and crunch. If you do skip it, I’d recommend still adding a bit of the garlic, lemon, parsley mixture to the sauce.
- grated zest of ½ a lemon
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
- 4 sweet Italian sausages
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 10 oz. cremini or white button mushrooms, halved
- ½ cup white wine
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 springs thyme, leaves picked and chopped
- Pinch of sugar
- ⅔ cup heavy cream
- 2 Tbsp. panko
- 12 oz. pappardelle
- In a small bowl, mix together the lemon zest, garlic and parsley. Set aside.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
- While the water boils, brown the sausage. In a large saute pan over medium heat, squeeze the sausage out of its casings and break into into pieces.Cook until browned, then transfer to a paper towel to drain. Wipe out pan.
- Heat the olive oil in the same pan over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook until they start to brown. Add the wine, bay leaf, thyme and sugar. Cook until most of the liquid has reduced. Reduce heat and add the cream. Stir in the sausage, season to taste with salt and pepper, and keep warm.
- In a small saute pan, toast the panko until golden. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Cook pasta according to package directions. When al dente, drain and add to the warm mushroom mixture, along with half of the lemon zest mixture. Stir to coat, adding a little of the pasta water if the sauce is too thick.
- Stir panko with remaining lemon zest mixture.
- To serve, divide the pasta among 4 serving plates. Top with some of the panko and serve immediately.
This is my kind of pasta…it looks so delicious!