Miso Mushroom and Leek Pasta
Published September 11, 2024
- Total Time
- 40 minutes
- Prep Time
- 15 minutes
- Cook Time
- 25 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
Advertisement
Ingredients
Salt
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more as needed
2 medium leeks, trimmed, white and light green parts thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
1 ½ pounds mushrooms (such as cremini, shiitake and/or oyster mushrooms), stemmed and sliced
1 pound short pasta, such as ziti or cavatappi
2 tablespoons white miso
¾ cup grated Parmesan, plus more for garnishing
1 tablespoon sherry or red wine vinegar, plus more to taste
1 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves and tender stems
Preparation
- Step 1
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
- Step 2
Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a Dutch oven or deep 12-inch skillet over medium-high until shimmering. Add the leeks, season with salt and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes. If they look dry at any point, add a drizzle of oil.
- Step 3
Add the mushrooms to the leeks, season lightly with salt, and cook, stirring every 2 minutes, until the mushrooms have browned, about 10 minutes. (If they are done before the pasta, then adjust the heat to low.)
- Step 4
When the water is ready, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Halfway through the cooking process, reserve 1 cup of water and let cool slightly on the counter. Drain the pasta in a colander and drizzle with olive oil if done before the mushrooms.
- Step 5
When both the mushrooms and pasta are done, stir the miso into the reserved pasta water until mostly dissolved. Add it to the Dutch oven or skillet over medium-high heat along with the pasta, cheese and vinegar, stirring vigorously until a cheesy sauce forms and coats the noodles, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and season to taste with more vinegar if needed.
- Step 6
Garnish with the parsley and more cheese; serve with a final drizzle of oil.
Private Notes
Comments
For Mel M et al.: If you want dryer, crisper, crustier mushrooms without the wateriness, the general instruction these days is to cook them first--no salt!--until after they're cooked to your preferred shade of brown. See Ali Slagle's recipe for Sautéed Mushrooms on this website.
The flavours were great and it was very simple to put together. I love sherry vinegar! That being said, I felt like it was too much pasta and not enough “stuff” so next time I would do more vegetables and 3/4 lb of pasta.
How can I be the first note for this?! I'm honored. This is seriously one of the best pasta dishes we have ever had. Outstanding. I didn't have sherry vinegar, so used balsamic. Wowzer. Easy too.
I mixed in an egg at the end for some protein
I didn't hate it. i didn't love it. Im clearly in the minority here. I made this as written and found it underwhelming. I think there is a lot of variability in the salt department depending on how much you salt the pasta water, brand of miso, and parmesan cheese used.
This came together quickly. I used brown cremi mushrooms because that’s all i can get here. I also threw in one and half Zucchinis. I cut the mushrooms into quarters and zucchinis into chunks and put them on a sheet pan with oil and salt. In the oven 190C convection for about 20-25mins. Mushrooms browned and carmelized with minimal effort. Everything else is as described. I cook 3/4 bag of fusilli, saute the leeks and as leeks are softened i pull the veggies out of the oven and scrape it into the leek pot and do the last step. The leek really makes this dish sweet and creamy. Also didn’t have sherry vinegar, so i sub with half balsamic and half white wine vinegar. It all works. Will make again.

