Looking for healthy vegetarian Italian? Try this Creamy Mushroom Rigatoni!

Here it is: this creamy mushroom rigatoni recipe starts off with a combination of cremini and shiitake mushrooms for a healthy, robust, Italian-inspired vegetarian meal your whole family will love!

When you need dinner quick on those busy weeknights or when you have last-minute guests coming: pasta to the rescue! Pasta is delicious, plain and simple: think olive oil, garlic, Parmesan, and some herbs; add different mushrooms, and you have a guaranteed crowd pleaser!

That’s all it takes: adding mushrooms to this pasta recipe makes for a meal that is cause for celebration. Plus it’s a perfect way to show off what a great “home chef” you are. This recipe was inspired by my love of pasta, one of my top restaurant “luxury” meals, but I’ve made it easy for the home cook.

I don’t drink alcohol, so I give you options in all of my recipes to use wine or stock; use whatever fits your lifestyle and taste. In some recipes I do use wine; I’m okay with that, but if you’re not, use stock.

When cooking pasta, salt the water before bringing the water to a boil. The water should be boiling rapidly before dropping in the pasta. I used rigatoni in this recipe, but you can use any shape or flavor pasta you like. You can even use gluten-free pasta, as well as any combination of mushrooms.

It’s easier if the pasta water pan is on the back burner and the sauté pan on the front one. I like this 8-quart stock pot for pasta and soups.

Use a large enough sauté pan  when sautéing the mushrooms to insure they brown rather than boil…yuck! Mushrooms are like a sponge when it comes to soaking up water, so clean them by wiping them clean rather than washing them in water.

In the restaurant, we precooked our pasta halfway and ran it under cold water to stop the cooking process. When we had an order in, we put the pasta in a strainer, dropped it in boiling water, and it tasted like it was just cooked. You can use the same process at home; if you cook too much it stays fresh for one to two days.

The whole idea behind food and creating recipes is to experiment and have fun doing it. If you make this recipe, let me know your experience, comments, feedback; whatever you feel like talking about. That’s my favorite part! Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram.