This creamy spinach and mushroom pasta is quick & easy and features creme fraiche and it gets a huge flavour boost from mushroom ketchup.
It’s a recipe that will take you about 10 minutes to prepare for and then it will cook in right around 15 minutes, making it a perfect midweek vegetarian meal.
Creamy Mushroom Casarecce
I adore mushrooms and cook with them all of the time and they feature fairly regularly in a range of my pasta recipes.
I’ve got recipes as diverse as mushroom ravioli to chorizo and mushroom pappardelle and creamy ham and mushroom tagliatelle and bacon and mushroom linguine with sun-dried tomatoes.
They are dishes that cook really quickly and they are an ingredient I often turn to when my diet gets all a bit too meaty.
My latest offering is a delicious, quick and easy creamy spinach and mushroom pasta recipe.
It’s a dish that will go from your fridge/sotre cupboard in a fairly leisurely 20-25 minutes.
Slightly tart creme fraiche provides the creamy induglent side to the sauce and mushroom ketchup gives it a little complexity.
Frequently Asked Questions
What sort of mushrooms should I use?
You can use anything you like, I’ve used a combination of big portobello mushrooms and subtle creamy oyster mushrooms in the pictures and video here.
But you could use anything you can get your hands on.
What is mushroom ketchup?
Mushroom ketchup is an old British condiment similar to Worcestershire Sauce and Henderson’s Relish.
It has a tangy “spiced” flavour with a fairly deep umami flavour. I love the stuff, it is both vegan and vegetarian and it tastes fantastic.
It is widely available in large supermarkets and don’t worry about having loads left over. I use it in dishes as diverse as mushrooms on toast, my mushroom hotpot and it even makes an appearance in my vegan mushroom rendang recipe.
Do I have to use creme fraiche?
No, you could use double cream (heavy cream in the US) or even sour cream. Creme fraiche is a little richer and it adds a wonderful tartness to the recipe.
Can I use reduced-fat creme fraiche?
I never usually use reduced-fat dairy in my recipes. However, I have started to test it when developing recipes recently due to the amount of times this question gets asked.
I had great results with 50% reduced fat creme fraiche in my testing, the dish was a little less rich but there was no splitting and it was still delicious.
Serving Suggestions
A bowl of pasta is so often my idea of the perfect quick TV dinner and this cream spinach and mushroom pasta is no different.
I rarely serve pasta as a side and I will usually stick with some bread to mop up the sauce.
I’ve added some garlic ciabatta bread on the side here, although cheesy garlic bread would work just as well.
Your biggest choice when it comes to serving this dish is the type of pasta you use.
Casarecce is my choice here, it is a hearty curled pasta from Sicily often associated with pesto because it is wonderful at holding a sauce.
We certainly have a big creamy sauce here and as a result, it is a great choice. However, you could use everything from tagliatelle to fusilli or pappardelle to conchiglie.
Equipment Used
I only mention brands of equipment if I think that they make a material difference to a recipe. But, if you have any questions feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe.
- Hob/stovetop.
- 20cm or 8″ saucepan.
- 30cm or 12″ frying pan (with a lid).
- Colander.
- Ladle.
- Chopping board.
- Kicthen knife.
- A combination of weighing scales, measuring cups/jug and spoons.
Yield: 2 Servings
Creamy Spinach and Mushroom Pasta Recipe
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
This delicious and easy spinach and mushroom pasta recipe features Sicilian Casacrecce noodles, plenty of garlic, a little mushroom ketchup and it gets all creamy thanks to creme fraiche.
Ingredients
- 180g (6oz) Dried Pasta, I use Casarrece
- 3 Garlic Cloves
- 300g (2-3 Cups) Mushrooms, I use a mix of Oyster and Portobello Mushrooms
- 200g (4-5 Packed Cups) Baby Spinach
- 50ml (3 Tbsp + 1 Tsp) Water
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 3 Tbsp Mushroom Ketchup
- 100g (⅓ Cup) Creme Fraiche
- Salt to boil the pasta
- ¼ Tsp Black Pepper
Instructions
- Bring a 20cm or 8" saucepan of well-salted water (1½ teaspoons of salt in a pan this size) to a boil.
- Peel and dice the garlic cloves as finely as you can.
- Cut the mushrooms into 2-3mm (⅛") thick slices.
- Heat a 30cm or 12" frying pan over a high heat and when it is hot add the water and the spinach, add a lid and wilt for 90 seconds-2 minutes.
- As soon as the spinach goes into the frying pan add the pasta to the pasta water and cook until al dente (9-11 minutes).
- When the spinach is wilted, transfer it to a colander and set it aside, return the frying pan to a medium-high heat and add the olive oil.
- Once the olive oil is hot add the mushrooms and saute for 3-4 minutes.
- Add the garlic, cook for another minute then turn the heat down to medium-low and pour in the mushroom ketchup and stir.
- Push out any moisture from the spinach using the back of a ladle, then transfer it to a chopping board and give it a rough chop and add it to the mushrooms.
- By now the pasta should be cooked, drain it reserving around 75ml (⅓ cup) of the cooking water, and add the pasta to the sauce.
- Add the creme fraiche and black pepper, stir it through adding as much of the pasta water as needed to create a nice sauce.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
2Serving Size:
1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 695Total Fat: 31gSaturated Fat: 15gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 64mgSodium: 778mgCarbohydrates: 89gFiber: 9gSugar: 12gProtein: 20g
Calorific details are provided by a third-party application and are to be used as indicative figures only.
