With oyster mushrooms in season, this rich and indulgent pasta dish is a special recipe you have to make at least once!
Oyster Mushroom Basics
- Oyster mushrooms have a mild, slightly earthy flavour and every now and then you can detect a slight seafood taste.
- Their unique meaty texture makes an excellent meat substitute in hearty vegetarian dishes, like mushroom carbonara below.
Oyster Mushroom Carbonara
Serves 4
- 400g pasta (we used rigatoni)
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 500g grey oyster mushrooms, cut into strips
- 1 tbsp butter
- 2 shallots, thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- pinch of chili flakes, to taste
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 whole egg
- ½ cup grated parmesan, plus more for serving
- ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
- Cook the pasta until 2 minutes shy of al dente. Reserve 2 cups of the starchy pasta water. Drain the pasta and set aside.
- Heat a large pan on high heat. Add two tablespoons of olive oil and cook the oyster mushrooms in a single layer. The pan should be ripping hot when you add the mushrooms so that they turn golden and do not release any water. Depending on the size of your pan, you may need to do this in two or three batches.
- Gently toss and cook the mushrooms until they are golden brown and caramelised. Transfer mushrooms to a bowl and set aside.
- In the same pan, over medium heat, add a tablespoon of butter, sliced shallots, garlic, and a pinch of chili flakes. Stir and cook until the shallots have softened.
- Add the mushrooms back in the pan and 1 cup of reserved pasta water to deglaze the pan. Add the al dente pasta to the pan and stir to finish cooking.
- In a small bowl, whisk 4 egg yolks, 1 whole egg, parmesan and black pepper. Add half a cup of reserved pasta water to loosen the mixture.
- Remove the pasta pan from the heat and quickly stir in the egg mixture with a wooden spoon. You can add more pasta water if necessary, until a luscious golden sauce coats all the pasta.
- Add parsley and stir to combine. Serve immediately with a generous mound of parmesan and black pepper on each serving.
More Recipe Ideas:
- Fried Oyster Mushrooms
- BBQ Oyster Mushroom Tacos
- Oyster Mushroom Lasagne
Nikita is a food writer, stylist & recipe developer based in Johannesburg.
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