A super simple, tasty vegetarian dinner that will never let you down! Roasted garlic mushrooms are tossed with homemade or store bought pesto and topped with a dollop of soft cheese for an incredible mix of flavors and textures. This is an easy no-chop dinner, a fancy date night meal, or anything in between depending on how you approach it!
Introducing my favorite vegetarian mushroom pesto pasta recipe with lots of flex
If you’re a mushroom lover, then you already know how mushrooms and pasta are a match made in heaven and the perfect choice for a more “meaty” and substantial vegetarian pasta dinner. In this recipe we roast them with some garlic to make them their best selves, then we toss them into pesto pasta. And then we add a dollop of soft cheese if we’re feeling inclined. Mmm.
This can be an easy 30 minute meal or a fancy date night situation. There’s lots of options! On the easiest possible side of the spectrum, you buy store bought pesto, pre-sliced mushrooms and pre-chopped garlic, and you’ll barely notice that you’re cooking. On the other side, you could be making this fancy with some wild mushrooms, home made pesto and whipped feta or ricotta.
1. Choose Your Mushrooms
I use simple chestnut mushrooms which I can get in a large pack and are fairly inexpensive. They’re great everyday mushrooms, and they roast well. I’ve tried this recipe with chopped portobello mushrooms too, which also work beautifully. If you’re wanting it to be super quick and easy, you could use pre sliced mushrooms in whatever variety they’re available. Or, if you’re wanting to make an upgraded version of this recipe, try a mixed pack of wild mushrooms.
2. Choose Your Pesto
To keep things on the quick and easy side, some ready made basil pesto works well, if you have a trusted brand. But should you choose to go with homemade pesto, I have included my favourite pesto recipe in the card. This makes a big batch which will likely leave you with leftovers, and which lets you choose all basil, or a mix of basil and baby spinach to bulk out the nutritional value.
But when it comes to homemade pesto… there are SO. MANY. OPTIONS. I have a huge collection of pesto recipes right here if you just want to look at pesto recipes all day, like I do. But a few particular recommendations for this Mushroom Pesto Pasta would be…
- This Cavolo Nero (lacinato kale) Pesto works well, I’ve made it that way several times.
- The Avocado Pistachio Pesto from this gnocchi recipe would be an amazing creamy vegan alternative.
- This Cilantro (Coriander) Pesto would give the whole dish a zingy, summery transformation.
- And on the red side… this Spicy Harissa Pesto is a new favorite around here and would be absolutely amazing in this dish!
3. Choose Your Soft Cheese
If you’re making this with a really fresh, vibrant tasting pesto, a dollop of something creamy is such a great addition that makes some bites lovely and creamy. Ideas:
- A spoonful of ricotta cheese (you can make whipped ricotta if you feel like it, but I just give it a stir and spoon it straight from the tub).
- A spoonful of mascarpone cheese.
- A ball of burrata or fresh buffalo mozzarella, you would want 1/4 – 1/2 of a ball per serving.
- Whipped feta.
Making this a kid friendly family meal
I love this as a family meal with young kids, babies or toddlers because if your family doesn’t agree on all the ingredients, you can easily bring everything to the table separately and construct your bowls from there. So kids could have their pasta tossed in pesto, soft cheese, both, or neither, and the mushrooms could be optional. Obviously, if there’s another veggie they’d like, you can add that to the mix for them.
More Easy Dinners with Mushrooms
Garlic Mushroom Pesto Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 lb (16 oz) chestnut mushrooms, halved or sliced
- 3 Tbsp (40 g) butter
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ cup (120 ml) pesto , The quantity is very approximate – see notes
- 11 oz (11 oz) spaghetti, or any other long pasta shape – angel hair, linguine, bucatini, etc
- 6 Tbsp soft cheese
- 2 Tbsp grated parmesan or Italian hard cheese, for topping – see notes
- 1 lemon, for juicing
Homemade Pesto Recipe
- 3 Tbsp pine nuts
- 4-5 cups (75-100 g) basil leaves, or a combination of basil and baby spinach
- ⅓ cup (45 g) grated parmesan or Italian hard cheese, grated
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 lemon, juiced
- ⅓ cup (90 ml) olive oil, you may want more, up to 1/2 cup
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 220C / 430F.
- If you're making the homemade pesto, do it first while the oven preheats – Toast your pine nuts by heating a frying pan on a low heat, without any oil, and add the pine nuts for a minute or two, mixing regularly, until they're lightly browned and smelling toasty. Then add the garlic, spinach and MOST (about 2/3rds) of the basil, pine nuts and cheese to your food processor or mini chopper. Add a few grinds of salt and blend until finely chopped. Add the lemon juice and blend, slowly adding the oil to the mixture, until smooth. Now add the reserved basil, pine nuts and cheese into the food processor with the remaining oil. Pulse gently until these ingredients are incorporated into the pesto but in larger pieces. Add more oil if you think it needs it.
- Prepare the mushrooms. Melt the butter in the microwave in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the olive oil, garlic and then the mushrooms. Toss to coat the mushrooms in the garlic butter, then add salt and pepper if desired.
- Scatter on a baking sheet and place in the oven for 20 minutes, or until they are browned.
- Boil the pasta according to package instructions. Once it is cooked, you can reserve a little cooking water before draining if the pesto you're using is homemade and chunky and might need thinning out (it's less likely to need it if it's a jarred pesto as those are usually thin and oily).
- Add the pesto to the pasta, and some cooking water if needed to smooth it out.
- Add in the mushrooms and toss to combine.
- Spoon into bowls and top with any additional toppings you like: a dollop of soft cheese, a sprinkle of parmesan, or a squeeze of lemon juice.
Step 2 doesn’t mention adding the garlic. It’s obvious if you notice “garlic butter”, but might be easily overlooked!
Oh thanks, I have fixed that now!
This was absolutely delicious. I used store bought pesto and gluten free pasta from Trader Joe’s. We like the soft texture of the mushrooms, so we didn’t roast it in the oven. Kept them on the stove a little longer with the garlic buttery olive oil and it was amazing. Was quite a quick lunch.
Excellent, and I added some artichoke hearts and a little sun-dried tomatoes 🙂