Wild mushroom and herb pasta

It’s been a busy few weeks to say the least. As the seasons start to change and we make our way towards the transitional season of fall, I’m also getting ready for a time of transition in my life. It’s been a little while coming, but Christian and I have decided to leave our home in London, UK to make a new one in Zurich, Switzerland. One last European adventure before we return to my native Canada (or so I tell myself). Although we love London and everything it has to offer, we’re moving for good reasons – Christian got a great job offer in one of the most live-able cities in the world, Zurich is much closer to our Italian family (although a little bit farther from our Canadian one) and if I’m completely honest, we were just really starting to feel the weight of big city life on our shoulders.

I am excited to start this new chapter in our lives in January 2019, but as someone who doesn’t always love change I do admit that the last few weeks have left me a bit uneasy and anxious. The prospect of leaving my job without a new one in hand, saying goodbye to our friends who have become like family over the last five years and moving to a mainly German-speaking part of the country is a little bit daunting at times. On the other hand, I know deep down that I’m up for the challenge – it will give me the opportunity to solidify my German skills, give me more time for this little corner of the internet that I’ve created (thank you again for reading!) and allow me to hopefully continue working as an environmentalist in a whole new part of the world.

At this stage you’re probably wondering how I will ever tie this narrative back to food. Well, I can’t think of a better food to represent autumn and a time of transition than wild mushrooms, so I thought today would be a particularly fitting time to share this wild mushroom and herb pasta recipe with you. This recipe is dead easy to prepare and is a great way to make the most of these seasonal beauties. You simply pan-sear wild mushrooms in olive oil and large flake salt, squeeze lemon juice over the top, toss with herbs and fold into freshly cooked gluten free pasta. It comes together in less than half an hour and makes for an amazingly satisfying vegan dinner.

I really hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do. If you try it, I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below. And if you have any great moving tips or nuggets of useful info on life in Switzerland/Zurich, I’d love to hear about that too!

-xo KA

Wild mushroom and herb pasta {vegan & gluten free}

This pasta dish is one of my favourite ways to enjoy wild mushrooms. You can use any wild mushrooms you like – I particularly like the girolle and oyster varieties. If you’re not gluten-free, you can certainly make this recipe with regular pasta as well.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil, plus more to serve

• 4 cups | 320 g wild mushrooms (such as girolle, oyster, chanterelle), cleaned and sliced into relatively large bite-sized pieces

• 1 good pinch large flake sea salt

• 1 large handful | approx 25 g flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

• 1 small lemon, juice

• 2 cups | 150 g gluten free fusilli (I used bio-fair rice quinoa red & white fusilli for this recipe)

• 1 large pot salted water (to cook the pasta)

• Freshly ground black pepper

• A bit of freshly grated Parmesan (vegan or regular), to serve (optional)

 Method:

Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the wild mushrooms and a good pinch large flake sea salt. Give the mushrooms a good stir, and then cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring infrequently to sear them, so that they develop a lovely deep golden colour.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta according to package instructions. Drain the pasta, rinse with warm water and return to the pot.

When the mushrooms are done, remove the frying pan from the heat and stir in the lemon juice. Next add the fresh parsley to the pan, give everything a good stir. Fold the warm mushroom mixture into the cooked pasta. Drizzle in a bit more olive oil and freshly ground black pepper if desired. Taste and season with more salt, if needed.

To serve, top each plate of pasta with a bit more fresh parsley and freshly grated Parmesan, if using.

Serves two.