Finding meat free dishes that I enjoy is not always easy. I am a true meat lover, but I do like to take a day off from eating meat once in a while. So I worked on a pasta dish so that I would have something hearty to eat on those days I wanted to avoid meat. It’s mushroom ricotta pappardelle, a fantastic meat free meal. It’s hearty, extremely flavorful, and full of texture. I love it, and you’re going to love it too.
Mushroom ricotta pappardelle is a mixture of pasta, baby bella mushrooms and walnuts mixed with a ricotta sauce. I love it as is, but if you really can’t stand to eat without meat, you can always add pancetta or bacon lardons – but don’t tell anyone I told you!
I sipped on a rich and creamy Sonoma Cutrer chardonnay while enjoying my mushroom ricotta pappardelle, Sonma Cutrer is a magnificent chardonnay, have you tried it? It works so well with pasta, but it is also a great wine for just simply drinking. Sonoma Cutrer is my curl up on the sofa wine. We all have a wine we like to enjoy while surfing the web, or watching a movie. Well, Sonoma Cutrer is one of my go to wines for those moments.
I gobbled down 1 1/2 portions of mushroom ricotta pappardelle, its just too difficult to stay away from knowing there is more in the fridge. So beware, make sure when you make this dish that you have someone to share it with, otherwise you may find it all ends up in your belly. Enjoy!
Mushroom Ricotta Pappardelle
Ingredients
Pasta Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb baby bella mushrooms sliced
- 1 lb pappardelle
- 1/4 cup of walnut pieces
- Plus a handful of walnut pieces to garnish
Ricotta Sauce Ingredients
- 2 cups ricotta 15 oz
- 1 cup of parmesan shredded
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Equipment and Utensils
- Skillet
- Medium saucepan
- Heat proof bowl that can be placed on top of the medium saucepan
Instructions
- Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in skillet on high heat then add mushrooms.
- Sauté mushrooms on high heat until golden (3-5 minutes).
- Make sure to keep an eye on the mushrooms, you will need to sauté the mushrooms on a high heat to avoid the collection of fluid in the pan, but you mustn't allow the mushrooms to stick to the bottom of the skillet.
- Once mushrooms golden, transfer to a paper towel lined bowl. The paper towel will soak up any juices that are released.
- Cook pasta al dente as directed on the packaging.
- Drain pasta, but collect the water from the pasta and return to saucepan and place on a low heat to simmer.
- Shake of excess water from pasta and then drizzle with remaining tbsp of olive oil.
- Shake around so that olive oil coats all of the pasta, then set aside.
- Place heat proof bowl on top of simmering saucepan.
- Once bowl is warm add ricotta sauce ingredients.
- Whisk ingredients together until sauce is very warm and smooth.
- Lower heat under pan to its lowest to keep sauce warm.
- Place pasta, mushrooms and 1/4 cup of walnuts into a bowl.
- Shake ingredients around until thoroughly mixed then turn off heat under pan.
- Add ricotta sauce to pasta, mix, and serve immediately.
- Sprinkle with remaining walnut pieces.
