This easy bacon mushroom pasta recipe makes an incredibly delicious and comforting pasta that’s sprinkled with grated Parmigiano Reggiano and fresh parsley. We’ve made this pasta with bucatini, but you could use a thick spaghetti, linguini, fettuccini, or even penne, and while the basis for this light pasta is extra virgin olive oil, you could create a richer pasta with cream.
One of my best Italian pasta recipes and best mushroom recipes, this bacon mushroom pasta recipe makes a quick and easy pasta that comes together in no time. Super simple, with just two key ingredients, bacon and mushrooms, the pasta dish is enlivened with a shower of grated Parmigiano and fresh parsley, a sprinkle of good sea salt and cracked black pepper, and a drizzle of a quality extra virgin olive oil.
What I love about this bacon mushroom pasta recipe is that it’s super versatile. My preference is dried bucatini for this recipe, but you could use a thick spaghetti, linguini or fettuccini, or even penne or rigatoni. Use any type of mushroom you like, or a mix of wild mushrooms; ham, sausage or chorizo instead of bacon; and while I’m happy with a good extra virgin olive oil, add cream for a richer pasta dish.
This bacon mushroom pasta recipe is next in our series of fast pasta recipes that’s so far included recipes for mac and cheese with crispy bacon and caramelised shallots, pesto pasta with green beans and potatoes, a creamy tomato pasta sauce with gnocchi, my penne Bolognese for a ‘cheat’s Bol’, an asparagus, mushrooms and bacon gnocchi, a cherry tomato feta pasta recipe, a speedy spaghetti pangrattato, easy sardine pasta with caper gremolata and pangrattato, a tuna pasta with scallions, capers and fresh herbs, aromatic lemon pasta recipe for pasta al limone, and fusilli with creamy pumpkin pasta sauce.
Bacon Mushroom Pasta Recipe with Parmigiano, Fresh Parsley and Bucatini
We love mushrooms and have a mushroom restaurant in Calabria’s mushroom capital of Camigliatello Silano, in Southern Italy, where we dined with a baron and baroness (!) and were served a multi-course mushroom-focused menu with one giant juicy roasted mushroom as a main course, for reigniting our passion for mushrooms.
While Terence prefers the meatier, earthier shiitake mushrooms, which we mostly use in our Siem Reap kitchen back in Cambodia, I’m very happy with perfectly cooked white button mushrooms (young mushrooms), cup mushrooms or cremini (‘teen’ mushrooms with brown gills) and Portobellos (the grown-up mushrooms), which are all part of the Agaricus bisporus family.
And it’s so easy to perfectly cook button mushrooms. Terence has long been an advocate of only brushing mushrooms to remove any soil, but I have to confess that in Cambodia I’ll often wash the shiitakes quickly as they come from China where pesticides are widely used to grow anything not organic.
Here in Australia, where I’m currently caring for my mum (and experiencing a little reverse culture shock), I’ve been brushing the dirt off the mushrooms, or, if there’s a little soil that won’t budge, I’ve been following the advice of the Australian Mushroom Growers, and simply wiping the mushrooms with a damp cloth.
You only need a little olive oil. I’ve been using an Australian extra virgin olive oil that has a robust, vibrant, fruity flavour. I only use just enough olive oil to lightly coat the pan, and therefore lightly coat the mushrooms, and a hot pan to brown the mushrooms a little. By browning the mushrooms a bit, you’re sealing in any juices, just as you would with meat, so the result is a firmer yet still tender juicy mushroom.
If you love mushrooms as much as we do, you’ll enjoy whipping up this bacon mushroom pasta recipe. It’s such a speedy pasta dish to prepare, such a moreish pasta and it re-heats well – just add a little water, olive oil and/or cream – so you may well want to double the batch so you have pasta leftovers.
Tips to Making this Bacon Mushroom Pasta Recipe with Parmigiano, Fresh Parsley and Bucatini
Just a few tips to making this bacon mushroom pasta recipe with Parmiagiano, fresh parsley and bucatini, as it’s so easy and comes together quickly. After putting a big pot of salted water on the stove to boil, you can start prepping your ingredients as the mushrooms and bacon won’t take long to cook.
When the pasta is on a rolling boil, you can add the bucatini (or whatever dried pasta you’re using), give the pasta a quick stir so it doesn’t stick together, then put the lid on and cook the pasta until just al dente.
Follow the packet instructions, but if your bucatini is like my bucatini, it takes around 9 minutes. I set the timer for 8 minutes, as the pasta will keep cooking in the pan when you combine it with the mushrooms and bacon. I prefer the bacon just-cooked, not crispy, for this bacon mushroom pasta, but if you prefer crispier bacon, cook the bacon with the garlic before you add the mushrooms.
While the pasta is cooking, to a large deep pan over medium-high heat, I’ll pour in the extra virgin olive oil. When it’s shimmering, add the minced garlic, stir it frequently to cook until it’s fragrant. It won’t take long, as you don’t want to brown the garlic, which makes it bitter. Don’t have garlic? Use garlic powder or garlic salt.
To the same pan, you’ll add the mushroom slices, black pepper and salt (although don’t use salt if you used garlic salt), and stir so the mushrooms are coated in the seasoning. Stir the mushrooms continually so they’re coated all over in the garlicky oil; don’t leave the mushrooms on one side for long, as that side will soak up more olive oil than the other.
Turn the heat to high to brown the mushrooms, stirring them occasionally to brown them on both sides, then push the mushrooms to the side of the pan. Then reduce the heat to medium, add the bacon strips and stir occasionally until they’re cooked then bring the garlicky mushrooms back to the centre of the pan and combine them with the bacon.
Your timer should be going off about now and the bucatini should be al dente, so use a pasta fork to immediately transfer the pasta to the pan. With a spoon, take a couple of spoonfuls of cooking water over, too, and stir it through, as the starchy water will create a light sauce.
If you’re using the optional cream, add that now, stir to coat the pasta with sauce, and increase the heat to high, to let the sauce reduce. Just before serving, add the grated Parmigiano Reggiano (or even Grana Padano or Pecorino Romano) and chopped fresh flat leaf parsley and stir to combine well.
Serve immediately, distributing the pasta between plates, then drizzle on a little more of your best extra virgin olive oil, and shower with more fresh parsley. Serve with more grated cheese, fresh parsley and salt and pepper on the table.
Bacon Mushroom Pasta Recipe with Bucatini and Fresh Parsley
Ingredients
- 250 g bucatini - or spaghetti, linguini, fettuccini
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic - peeled and minced
- 200 g white button mushroom - or cremini or portobello mushrooms, brushed and cut into four slices
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 4 bacon rashers - rind removed, sliced into strips
- 2 tbsp Parmigiano Reggiano cheese - grated
- 100 ml thickened cooking cream - optional, or to taste
- 1 cup fresh flat leaf parsley - roughly chopped
Instructions
- Put a large pot of salted water on the stove over high heat to boil. When it’s on a rolling boil, add the bucatini, give it a stir so it doesn’t stick together, then put the lid on and cook until just al dente according to the packet instructions, around 9 minutes.
- In a large deep pan over medium-high heat the extra virgin olive oil until shimmering, add the minced garlic, and cook until fragrant, stirring frequently.
- To the same pan, add the mushroom slices, salt and black pepper and stir, stirring the mushrooms continually so they’re coated in the garlicky oil; don’t leave the mushrooms on one side for long, as that side will soak up more olive oil than the other. Turn heat to high so the mushrooms brown, stirring occasionally to brown them on both sides, then push the mushrooms to the side of the pan.
- Reduce the heat to medium, add the bacon strips and stir occasionally until they’re cooked then combine them with the garlicky mushrooms.
- The bucatini should be al dente by now, so use a pasta fork to immediately transfer it to the pan. Use a spoon to take a couple of spoonfuls of cooking water to the pan and, if you’re using the optional cream, add it now, stir to coat the pasta with sauce, increase the heat to high, and let the sauce to reduce.
- Just before serving, add the grated Parmigiano Reggiano and chopped fresh flat leaf parsley, stir to combine well, and serve immediately. Distribute the pasta between plates, drizzle on a little more extra virgin olive oil, shower with more fresh parsley, and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Please do let us know if you make this easy bacon mushroom pasta recipe as we’d love to know how it turns out for you.
