Give your meaty pasta a break and try this luscious & creamy mushroom pasta in white sauce and fall for it instantly! You will be sorted for your meatless Mondays for life!
I am in the mood to get back to the classic recipes and so I have the iconic spaghetti in white sauce recipe for you today! But wait, there is something more to it which will make it even better! I have the creamy mushroom spaghetti in white sauce in offer today and I am sure you guys gonna love it!
This one is almost a one-pot pasta recipe if you can discount the additional pasta boiling-pot; everything else will be happening in a single large skillet! You can use a large frying pan; but in my opinion a large sauté pan with highs sides would be ideal.
This mushroom spaghetti in white sauce is a wonderful recipe for dinner, primarily because of its fantastic taste and also because it is ready under 30 minutes! I really like this white sauce pasta recipe not only because it tastes good but also it is a clean & fuss-free recipe.
There is not much pre-prep required too. Toughest part of this recipe is to wipe clean each mushroom diligently without washing them under running water.
I will come to it little later! For now you can drool at the vibrant spaghetti laced with rich & silky sauce and made nutritious with the generous topping of sautéed mushrooms!
Now let’s talk about why you should not rinse mushrooms in running water?
You may be surprised to read that I am suggesting not to rinse button mushrooms in water; trust me on this and you will notice the difference in taste by yourself. Mushroom is like sponge in texture which absorbs too much moisture if they are soaked in water for washing or even while rinsing under running tap water.
Due to this, each mushroom becomes very soggy and even after deep-frying or shallow-frying them in oil, it will never achieve that crispy taste which you get in restaurants. So how to properly clean mushrooms as we all know they come with lot of dirt and mud?
Best way to clean a mushroom is to take at least a 2-ply kitchen towel (3-ply would be better), fold it to bring it to a size which can easily fit into your hand (plus it becomes thick too) and then take each mushroom at a time and wipe it all over with the kitchen towel to remove all those dirt and mud.
You will not need to add too much pressure as the grime attached to the mushrooms is mostly dry and fall apart easily. For stubborn dirt, add just couple of drops of water to the kitchen towel and rub the dirt off.
This method may sound time-taking, which I don’t disagree completely, but it is completely worth it and makes a world of difference in taste of mushrooms once they are cooked! Try it.
Sautéed mushrooms taste great, but do you feel you miss the mark while you try to do restaurant quality sautéed mushrooms? Do they turn soggy? Here is a quick tip to easily fix that!
Sautéed mushroom tastes great on its own thanks to its crispy outer texture and succulent interior. But do you think you always miss that mark with sautéed mushrooms and they come out soggy? Then I may help you here! Do you add salt to your mushrooms while sautéing? If yes, then that’s the culprit!
As you know that salt draws out the moisture from the ingredient it is added to, hence we need to use this property of salt to our benefit and not the opposite! While in many cases it is good and recommended to add salt while cooking, for mushrooms you must do exactly the opposite!
If you add salt to mushrooms while they are still being cooked, salt will force the moisture out of the mushroom pieces and will turn them soft and soggy. So, rule of thumb – never add salt to raw mushrooms or even while cooking them.
Once the mushrooms are nicely sautéed and completely cooked through, then they are ready to take the seasoning as the crispy outer texture is already formed. Sprinkle salt on top and give a quick mix.
For this recipe of mushroom pasta, you can take out the cooked mushrooms on a plate and then sprinkle some salt on top. While returning them back to the pasta, give a quick mix to ensure salt is mixed up evenly and not clumped on one side.
Need more variety? Thinking how you can improvise this recipe to make your own signature style spaghetti in white sauce?
This one-pot recipe of mushroom spaghetti in white sauce is quite a quick and easy recipe which tastes great and generally loved by all. At the same time, this recipe is very user-friendly and can be customized in endless ways to adhere to your likes and dislikes.
If you don’t like mushrooms or you don’t have it handy, you can replace it with about 2 cups of roasted cauliflower florets or roasted broccoli. Both of these cruciferous veggies taste great with white sauce. Is your chicken-loving brain tickling? Not to worry!
Coat some boneless chicken cubes very lightly with all-purpose flour and sauté them with minced garlic, salt & pepper until they turn golden brown on the edges and are completely cooked through, then set them aside.
Follow the remaining instructions to make the white sauce pasta and return the cooked chicken cubes at the very end. If you love your pasta to be loaded, then add both chicken and mushrooms to it! Trust me, you will forget your favourite pasta from your favourite Italian restaurants and crave for your own homemade spaghetti from then on!
If you are a shrimp lover and wondering if you can add some sautéed shrimps to this white sauce pasta then I would recommend you to hold that thought. If you love shrimp pasta, I have good news for you! My blog hoards many shrimp pasta recipes which you will love as much as this one!
Try the pesto shrimps spaghetti which had proved to be a winner and you also have the step-by-step video for this! If you love baked pasta, then I have a killer combination of the luscious Alfredo sauce with shrimps in this shrimp Alfredo pasta bake recipe! Try them and enjoy your time with family!
More shrimp pasta recipes –
- Button mushrooms – 400 gms
- Garlic – 8 to 10 cloves, minced
- Spaghetti – 250 gms
- Unsalted butter – 4 tbsp
- All-purpose flour – 2 tbsp
- Milk – 400 ml
- Heavy cream – 2 tbsp
- Italian seasoning – 1 & ½ tsp
- Cheddar cheese – ¼ cup, grated
- Olive oil – 2 tbsp
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- Fresh basil leaves – ½ cup, thinly sliced
- Boil a large pot full of water with about 2 tablespoons salt in it. When the water comes to rolling boil, add spaghetti to it and cook until al dente as per the packet instructions. The pasta packet mentions the time to cook the pasta perfectly i.e. al dente which you can follow.
- Once pasta is cooked till al dente, reserve about 2 cups of pasta water and drain the remaining out. Leave the spaghetti in a colander after quickly giving it a rinse under cold running water.
- Wipe each button mushroom with damp kitchen towel; do not rinse mushrooms with water as water will make them soggy. Slice the button mushrooms thinly, about 1-cm thick.
- Heat olive oil in a large pan and add the sliced mushrooms in a single layer which will ensure that the edges of the mushrooms brown nicely.
- Sauté the mushrooms on medium-high heat until they turn golden brown at the bottom; then flip then over and sauté the other side until golden brown. This would take about 15 minutes total. Then take them out on a plate and set aside. Sprinkle couple of pinches of salt all over the sautéed mushrooms.
- Now add the butter to the same pan and let it melt on low heat. Once butter melts completely, add flour and keep stirring continuously keeping the heat at minimum for about a minute. Flour may seem to clump but do not worry about that.
- Next add milk while stirring continuously. After adding the entire milk, switch to a wire whisk and keep whisking the milk until the flour seems to dissolve completely.
- Add the heavy cream, Italian seasoning, salt & pepper to taste and mix everything thoroughly. Now bring the milk mixture to a slow boil keeping the heat on medium. As soon as the milk starts to boil, it will thicken and you will get the desired white sauce consistency.
- Let the sauce simmer for 5 minutes. You can taste the sauce at this point for the seasoning and adjust if needed. You may even add a dash of cayenne pepper if you like the kick.
- Now add the cooked spaghetti and grated cheddar cheese. Using a tong, mix the spaghetti & cheese with the sauce and so that each noodle is quoted with the cheesy sauce.
- If the sauce thickens too much, add the reserved pasta water a little at a time and mix it thoroughly with everything. This will loosen the sauce and help in even mixing of all the ingredients. You may not need all the reserved pasta water; only add that much which is required to get the sauce to your desired consistency.
- Finally add the sautéed mushrooms & the fresh basil leaves and give a final mix so that mushrooms and basil are evenly distributed. Serve the warm creamy mushroom pasta with extra grated cheese on the side. Enjoy!
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