Pasta with mushrooms, sesame seeds and herbs tossed with a lemon ginger dressing.
Being the resident foodie in my neighborhood, I’m usually the one hosting dinner parties. And that’s totally fine with me because of all the recipe development and testing I have to do every week. I’d rather feed my friends than see all the food go to waste.
But sometimes recipe development goes wrong and the dish just fails. Yes, so bad it would ruin my reputation as a kitchen superstar.
So what is this dish? Well honestly it’s not even MY recipe, it’s part of a recipe from Heidi’s 101 Cookbooks blog called Otsu. I made a note of the lemon-ginger dressing from the otsu dish and use it on everything — with warm pasta, drizzled over roasted cauliflower, as a salad dressing, and even as a topping for grilled fish.
yes it is that good
I’ve left the recipe very flexible for you – in case you want this as an emergency backup dish too! I used some really nice Japanese shimeji mushrooms in this dish, but you can use any type of fresh mushroom you like, even thinly sliced button mushrooms.
The noodles I used in the photo are dried Japanese udon noodles, but regular dried spaghetti is just as good. For the fresh herbs, just use what you either grow in the garden or have packed in the fridge.
Pasta with mushrooms and lemon ginger dressing
ingredients
- Lemon Ginger Dressing
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3/4 teaspoon Asian chili powder (or cayenne pepper)
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Grated zest of 1 lemon
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1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
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1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated
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1/4 cup rice vinegar
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1/3 cup soy sauce
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1 tablespoon of honey
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1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
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3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- The noodles
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9 ounces dried noodles (spaghetti, linguine, udon, soba)
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7 ounces fresh mushrooms (enoki, shimeji, sliced button, sliced shiitake)
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1 1/2 tablespoons butter
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1 tablespoon chopped fresh herbs (parsley, spring onion, cilantro or basil)
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1 tablespoon sesame
special equipment
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food processor or blender
method
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Make the dressing:
Blend all ingredients except the sesame oil and olive oil in a food processor or hand blender. Run the blender for a few seconds until all the ingredients are combined. Drizzle in the oils while the machine is running.
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Cook pasta:
In a saucepan, cook the dried noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
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Fry mushrooms:
Heat a frying pan over high heat. Add the butter and when the butter starts to bubble, add the mushrooms. Fry the mushrooms for 2 minutes.
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Mix pasta and mushrooms, add dressing to taste:
In a large bowl, mix the cooked noodles with the mushrooms, fresh herbs, sesame seeds, and some dressing (to taste).
