The Taster has fallen in love with Nigella Lawson’s pasta, specifically her recipe featured on NPR’s Morning Edition recently. He’s since made it for us several times for lunch and dinner. We both agree, this one will be around for some time. It combines his love of mushrooms and my infatuation with lemon and salt. The flavor is bright and perky, each flavor is distinguished from the next. I think it’s sort of genius–I haven’t been this excited about a pasta dish this simple in a long time. And the best thing, especially for summertime: it requires very little cooking. Perfect when we don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. We usually half the recipe. A mix of cremini, shittake and button mushrooms works well. Make it! And tell me what you think.
Linguine With Lemon, Garlic, and Thyme Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 8 oz/4 cups finely sliced cremini mushrooms
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt or 1 ½ teaspoons table salt
- small clove garlic, minced
- zest and juice of a lemon
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme, stripped to give 1 teaspoon leaves
- 1 lb linguine
- 1 bunch parsley, chopped to give ½ cup
- 2 – 3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese, or to taste
- freshly ground pepper
Instructions
Slice the mushrooms finely, and put them into a large bowl with the oil, salt, minced garlic, lemon juice and zest, and gorgeously scented thyme leaves.
Cook the pasta according to the package instructions and drain loosely, retaining some water. Quickly put the pasta into the bowl with the mushroom mixture.
Toss everything together well, and then add the parsley, cheese, and pepper before tossing again, and eat with joy in your heart. (Serves 4 – 6)
That looks quite delicious. I had a similar dish featuring mushrooms and pasta wen we stayed at the Prospect Hotel Bed and Breakfast earlier this summer. It was so good that now, every time I see pasta with mushrooms, my mouth waters. Perhaps I can give this a try soon.
this looks great. go pasta. i love nigella.
Sounds delicious! I’d have to stop myself from sneaking in a bit of cream though – I’m addicted.
Nigella is fantastic! I’ve cooked several of her recipes from her Nigella Bites book and they’re always a favorite at parties.
Her show is great too, after I watch it I feel like running to the kitchen to cook just about anything
Thanks for sharing this recipe!
This recipe is also in her latest book “Nigella Express,” which I thouroughly recommend. It’s gotten me through my latest semester of college, and is full of delicious yet thankfully brief recipes.
mmmmmmm…
Sometimes, the simpler, the better. And this is definitely one of these times!
So you don’t actually cook the mushrooms?
I haven’t been keeping up and I see that I am missing out. Seems to be quite delicious in Portland
[...] Nigella’s Pasta, from Nigella Lawson. Holy crap, this is awesome. Anything that has lemon zest, mushrooms, and olive oil in it automatically piques my interest, and this is so good you want to make more pasta just to sop up the extra sauce. [...]
Great recipe! I stumbled upon it/your blog just tonight and love it. I’ve lived in Portland (attending school) for the last three and a half years, and hope you come to love it in the same way I have.
I’ll be referencing this recipe in my (pathetically posted-upon) blog. Thanks again for the recipe!
i’m going to try this over the weekend!