The next cookbook I’m delving into is Alison Roman’s Dining In. This mushroom pasta is amazing if you love mushrooms. If you haven’t heard of her, you might as well be living under a rock. She’s been much talked about and praised and she’s currently a contributing editor to the New York Times, Bon Appetit and various other publications. She’s also working on her next cookbook.
There was a lot of chatter around Dining In when it came out last year. Especially around The Cookie recipe that blew up on social media (salted chocolate chunk shortbread cookies). I’ve had the book for a while now but have barely scratched the surface with it, so I thought it was about time.
Flipping through it, you’ll notice very striking food photography accented by perfect orangey-red manicured hands, hip Brooklynites sawing into steak with leopard print napkins and a luscious looking shot of a woman’s mouth slurping up some bucatini, which I almost mistook for a lipstick ad at first. It’s very glossy and forward and full of personal stories of the author and how she came to be in the food business and cultivated her love of food growing up in Los Angeles. I also listened to an interesting podcast with her on Salt + Spine, which is a GREAT podcast if you love cookbooks and want to learn more about the authors and their personal stories.
Mushroom pasta with brown butter. How could you go wrong with this combo?
What caught my eye with this recipe was, of course, the beautifully styled photo of the dish itself. With mushrooms and rigatoni, I couldn’t help but think it would be delicious already. But then, in the top corner of the plate, a vibrant, orange egg yolk was sitting on top of the pasta. Hmmm, that’s a little intense, I thought, but interesting. The raw egg yolk is there to serve as the “saucy” component to the dish. I, myself, do not eat eggs raw but I do love a runny egg yolk, soft-boiled eggs, and tartare, so I thought why not? Let’s give this one a try.
I LOVE mushrooms. Any variety. Wild? Cultivated? I don’t care, give them to me. When I was at Borough Market in London, I almost died and went to heaven when I saw all the different kinds of mushrooms to be had. Another interesting ingredient in this dish are buckwheat groats. I think I’ve only ever had them in a very “twig and leaf” kind of healthy cereal. I found them in the bulk foods section at Whole Foods which was perfect because then I only had to purchase what I needed. These toasted up in a dry skillet very quickly and had a nice, soft crunch to them and a nutty, wheat-y flavor.
A few things I altered to this mushroom pasta recipe.
First off, I used all the ingredients the recipe called for. One complaint I had about the recipe was the direction she gave for boiling the pasta first and draining it without saving pasta water. I just imagined the pasta sitting in a colander, sticking to each other and getting cold, in my kitchen sink. Every Italian would probably have a word or two about those directions. The recipe states that the mushrooms would cook in 12-18 minutes. My box of rigatoni stated that the pasta would cook in 12 minutes. Problem solved. I start cooking the pasta right after the mushrooms start cooking. I did also add a little pasta water to everything, just to make things cohesive and to get some emulsification going with the brown butter.
The buckwheat groats were a nice touch, adding some crunchy texture to the dish. The next time I make this recipe, I’d probably just go for some fresh breadcrumbs toasted in a pan with a little olive oil. It would achieve the same result and I always have a little stale bread hanging out in my breadbox. I also thought the dish wouldn’t hurt with a fresh component added at the end. My first thought was a gremolata. Some chopped parsley and lemon zest but no more garlic. There is already a hefty amount of garlic in the recipe, which I would add later to the recipe than stated. It was hovering on almost burnt in my opinion, cooked as directed.
My final verdict for Alison Roman’s pasta with brown buttered mushrooms?
It’s a definite keeper! If you love mushrooms like I do, this is a great mushroom pasta recipe to showcase your love for them. I would probably go for a smaller pasta shape, such as gemelli or penne rather than the rigatoni. I just didn’t like how the large pasta tube overwhelmed the mushrooms. Being a lover of chilies, I would probably also add some crushed red pepper flakes. This would be an easy, weeknight dinner too. It comes together very quickly and with not too many ingredients. As for the raw egg yolk, I very much enjoyed it! Once I broke the yolk and stirred it into the pasta, I wanted every bite to have yolk in it. As she states, this is the time for VERY fresh eggs. If you have access to backyard chicken eggs or farmers market eggs, I would use them here. If you’re lucky enough to be able to forage for wild mushrooms, definitely use them in this recipe. Backyard chickens and wild, foraged mushrooms? Now you’re just living my dream culinary life :).
Pasta with Brown-Buttered Mushrooms, Buckwheat and Egg Yolk
Ingredients
- salt, kosher
- 1/3 cup buckwheat groats
- 1 pound whole wheat or white pasta (any short shape or noodles will work)
- 6 tbsp butter, unsalted
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 2 pounds mushrooms (use any varieties you like) cut or torn into bite size pieces
- black pepper, freshly ground
- 1/2 small shallot, finely diced
- 2 ounces parmesan or pecorino, for grating or shaving
- 4 large egg yolks (use very fresh eggs) optional
Method
- Fill a large pot with water and 2 tablespoons salt and set over high heat.
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. When hot, add the buckwheat and toast for about 3-4 minutes or until lightly brown and nutty smelling. Set aside in a small bowl.
- In the same skillet, add the butter to the pan and melt until foam subsides and butter is starting to brown, about 3 minutes. Add the olive oil, then the mushrooms. Stir to coat in the butter.
- When the mushrooms start cooking, start cooking the pasta. Add the dry pasta, stir and set a timer as directed on the package.
- Continue stirring the mushrooms, cooking them for about 12-15 minutes. Add the garlic when mushrooms are just beginning to brown. Cook until mushrooms are golden brown. Remove from heat if pasta is not done cooking yet. If pasta is done, add drained pasta to the mushrooms (reserve some of the pasta cooking water) and cook over medium heat.
- Add the shallots and stir to combine and coat pasta in butter. If things look a little dry, add 1/4 to 1/2 cup pasta cooking water and toss everything together. Season with more pepper and salt, if needed.
- Divide between four bowls and garnish with grated parmesan and the toasted buckwheat. Drop an egg yolk in the center of the pasta (if using) and serve. Direct guests to break the yolk to create a sauce.
Notes
I love mushrooms, and always looking for recipes with them. Thanks for posting this!
I love mushrooms too! Hope you like it!
1 large (63 gram) egg yolk contains 235 mg of cholesterol and 160 mg of phosphatidylcholine (which is converted by the intestinal bacteria and then the liver to trimethylamine n-oxide (TMAO), which also increases cardiovascular risk. A 12-ounce Hardee’s Monster Thickburger contains 265 mg of cholesterol and 320 mg of carnitine ( another dietary precursor of TMAO). So two eggs are worse than the 12-ounce burger, which would be 4 days’ worth of meat in a healthy diet. The most recent US dietary guideline did not specify daily intakes of cholesterol, but said that the cholesterol intake should be as low as posssible within the recomended dietary pattern (a more plant-based diet, so very low in cholesterol.) If people are wanting vegetarian recipes to reduce their risk of a stroke or heart attack, they should omit the egg yolk.