Simply Pasta is a monthly recipe column in which Best of Vegan contributor Teri-Ann Carty delves into her 20-year experience in fine dining and shares her best practices and recipes for making amazing pasta. In the new installment of Simply Pasta, she talks about her experience working for an Italian family and traces her easy, yet indulgent recipe for a vegan spaghetti alla noce e funghi (aka spaghetti with walnuts and mushrooms) back to those times.
I worked for an Italian family for 8 years before retiring from my restaurant career. I learned a great deal about Italian wording (menus), ingredients, and the very nuances of what it is like to be Italian. So while I am not, I feel like I have some real learned life experience. With all that said, I still reached out to my old boss just to make sure I wasn’t bumbling the name of this dish I created. My vegan spaghetti alla noce e funghi is so wonderful I can’t wait for you to try it. “Noce” means walnuts and “funghi” means mushrooms – two of my favorite ingredients ever. Let’s get cracking!
Spaghetti alla Noce e Funghi – Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 400 g spaghetti - I used gluten-free because I had to
- 1 pound of oyster mushrooms
- Olive oil cooking spray
- 4 tbsp of olive oil - divided
- Pinch of chili flakes
- 1 small onion - diced
- 2 cloves garlic - minced
- 1 cup walnuts - chopped
- 8 cremini mushrooms - sliced
- 1 tbsp miso
- 2 tbsp vegan butter
- ½ cup cooked navy beans
- Handful of spinach
- ½-¾ cup pasta water
- Vegan parmesan cheese
- Sea salt and cracked pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF/200ºC and place parchment on a baking sheet.
- Boil water for pasta and salt liberally (1 tbsp). Cook pasta till al dente and reserve 1 cup of pasta water before draining.
- Separate mushrooms if clumped together and trim the hard ends of the stem.
- Place on the baking sheet and spray with olive oil. Grate vegan cheese over the mushrooms and place in the preheated oven. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and season with salt and pepper.
- Heat 2 tbsp olive oil and chili flakes in a large dutch oven or a pan with sides. Add onion and cook for several minutes. Add in garlic and cook for 30 seconds more.
- Add cremini mushrooms tossing to coat. Allow the mushrooms to cook down before seasoning.
- Add vegan butter, walnuts, and miso mixing everything together.
- Add in white beans, spaghetti, and ¼ cup of pasta water. Toss everything together adding more pasta water as needed.
- Add spinach and allow for it to wilt down before adding more cheese and the remaining olive oil.
- Check for seasoning. Add a good amount of cracked pepper and salt if needed. Finish the dish with baked oyster mushrooms.
Notes
PIN/SAVE/SHARE THIS RECIPE
Recipe, text, and photography by Teri-Ann Carty.
