Baked Cheesy Pasta With Wild Mushrooms Recipe (2024)

Made this tonight, got genuine Italian fontina, shiitake, oyster, Bella, and some regular white mushrooms. Get more than 1 lb as you may want to discard some fibrous stems. Written recipe doesn't make clear to strip off the rosemary leaves to add to mushrooms, not roast with whole sprigs. But WHOA, hold the salt!! Way too much & not sure I can eat the rest. All of the cheeses are packed with sodium/salt. I am thinking no add

Just a note about Italian cheeses which from what I have read are basically the only cheeses in the world still made from fresh local milk...most countries are using dried milk which could come from anywhere, even countries far away...just make sure you buy Italian cheeses with the DOP (Denominazione di Origine Protetta) stamp on them, that way you will know that your Parmigiano, for example, really does come the the protected zone of Parmigiano Reggiano.

I did this recipe tonight with half and half, sh*take/white/cremini, and a cheese blend of fontina/asiago/parmesan. Super tasty! But a half pound of pasta is more like 3-4 servings realistically, not 8.

You can never go wrong with Gruyere in anything. However, "Fontinas" from Sweden or Denmark are quite good and have that same silky melting quality that makes Italian Fontina so desirable. Another excellent option would be Jarlsberg which is available everywhere.
Strongly recommend adding rehydrated Porcini mushrooms to boost flavor.
Although it is delicious as written, carnivores could add pancetta, bacon or sweet Italian sausage.

Note the mushrooms won't be crispy right out of the oven but will crisp up as they cool. Try half a teaspoon of sweet smoked paprika. Yum!

P.s. This stuff about "child friendly" is a concocted notion by Anerican parents whe feed their kids Mac n cheese, hotdogs, & Cheerios. I lived & worked in Nepal/India for 10 yrs, adopted my dtr there, age 4 mo, now 17 yrs. She ate & eats dal, raita, tikka, subzi, coriander chutney, sushi, squid, fish, you name it

While rosemary and sage are wonderful, I always add thyme to any mushroom dish - they marry beautifully

This is the best mac 'n' cheese I've ever made. I added some sauteed leeks and used gouda (instead of fontina) as I had some I needed to use up.

Baked this tonight with 1/4 lb pre-cooked chicken breast strips added with other ingredients at beginning of Step 3. Mushrooms were combo Cremini/sh*take, pasta was combo Orrechiette/Mini Fusilli.
Notes:
1-2 tbsp. oil sufficient for mushrooms I used
Needs 1 tsp kosher salt to my taste
Step 3 - Bake 25 minutes for nice crisp on top
Let cool in dish 5 min. before serving

Both my husband and I enjoyed this dish. Next time, will infuse the oil for the mushrooms with rosemary, to get more of the flavor in the finished dish. Also, a little nutmeg would be good, as would a light topping of toasted walnuts. Used half and half instead of cream and had to add another 1/3 cup to get the creaminess desired.

Have made this twice now, once as written, and just now substituting gruyere for the fontina and adding sliced jalapenos, which added both color and a a little spice. Much preferred the gruyere version.

I made this tonight as is and it was delicious -- not too salty. I also roasted the mushrooms with the rosemary on the stems; plenty of flavor and not a problem to lift the "stalks" off the cookie sheet and discard before making the pasta.

In "Turning an Elegant Pasta Dish Child-Friendly," MC writes, "As for the cheese, I chose fontina for its lusciousness when melted. But other good melting cheeses — Gruyère, Cheddar, Gouda — will work."

Delicious but REALLY dry. Should have used a lot more liquid and/or maybe cooked the pasta a bit more.

The first time I made this it was good, but not great. It was a bit bland for me even with all the spices. It didn’t seem worth all the calories. This time around, I took other reader’s suggestions and I doubled the mushrooms, added thyme instead of rosemary and sage, and I added browned impossible sausage and sautéed chard (with shallots) to the mix. Delicious! It gave an extra depth of flavor without adding too many calories. It was even better the next day.

Made this last night and followed the recipe except had to use Gruyère. Cooked the mushrooms on convection roast at 475. It’s delicious but will really only feed 4.

Made this almost as written tonight. Used 1 cup of cream instead of 3/4 and Gruyère instead of fontina as I’m not fond of the particular “funk” of fontina. It was quite good! The crispy mushrooms were wonderful. To improve it next time I would add some reconstituted porcinis to increase the depth of flavor and I’d warm the cheese/ricotta/cream while combining to make it more creamy and less clumpy. But all in all this was very good.

Added dried porcinis to the fresh for big flavor bump. Soaked the porcinis in hot water to rehydrate and then added some of the leftover water to the cheese mix for even more flavor and to prevent dry noodles. Winner.

Made exactly as in the recipe but doubled the amt of mushrooms for extra protein. Delicious!

Made as written. I used imported fontina so flavor a little more interesting. I can’t believe I’m saying this - it was just a little too cheesy for me and I love cheese. Taste was great and came together nicely.

As some people commented this is even better on the second day.

This was very tasty, good comfort food, and not a lot of work. We'll add this one to the rotation. Reminded me of Al Forno's pasta with four cheeses.

Ooh, so good! Next time, some red pepper flakes & a bit of lemon zest. I'm thinking some caramelized onions with a splash of white wine couldn't go wrong, either. Doubled the recipe (more than doubled the liquid), easily served 9 with leftovers (which reheated nicely in the microwave). Roasted veggies & salad with some bitter greens were great accompaniments to this rich entree.

Followed the recipe exactly, except kept oven at 450 rather than turn to 500. I pulled it out when it was browned like the picture at 10 minutes. It did seem drier than I was expecting for cheesy pasta. My guests enjoyed it, and we all enjoyed the delicious flavors. I will try it again and aim to take it out of the oven sooner than 10 minutes.

Added a chopped red onion and red pepper flakes to the mushrooms before roasting, and some crunchy breadcrumbs to the top of the dish before the final bake. Lots of freshly ground black pepper is a must!

If doubling pasta, double all other ingredients too. This will easily still fit in a 9x13 pan.

This turned out well, but relied quite a bit on suggestions from comments here. Increased garlic to 4 cloves and browned it in some butter before adding to the cheese sauce. Used all cremini. Used thyme instead of rosemary, and added the thyme directly to the cheese sauce. Definitely needs 1/4 to 1/2 cup pasta cooking water to loosen the sauce. Increased ricotta to 3/4 c, hvy cream to 1 c, & fontina to 7 oz. Added pinch nutmeg. Cooked the final dish at 450. Used a 2qt gratin dish not 9x13.

I made this for a birthday dinner. I doubled the recipe and it was enough for my party of seven with enough for lunch the next day. This is a superb take on mac and cheese. I made it as written, though I substituted part-skim ricotta and half-and-half. It was not dry or too salty. My guests loved it. The roasted mushrooms taste like bacon! And you can skip the step of making a white sauce like the classic mac 'n cheese. Fontina tastes delicious and melts quickly.