Creamy One-Pot Mushroom and Leek Pasta

Replace some stock with white wine Add garlic, add shallots Add zest of lemon Is fine without ricotta

Cooked as instructed, the result was flavorless and starchy. I used orcchiette, and a mix of wild and commercial mushrooms. Seems the author was overly fixated on the "one pot" objective by trying to emulate one of the many tried and true "one pot" Italian pasta dishes but failed. Cooking the mushrooms separately them adding in the al dente pasta with a bit of the cooking water would produce a nice creamy sauce with better flavor result I think.

Whoever came up with the idea of adding white miso is a very savvy cook! When I first tasted the pasta after it finished boiling in the chicken stock (homemade, very tasty stock by the way), it was stunningly bland... I’m sure this was because the recipe doesn’t call for salt to be used prior to the absolute end of cooking. Even after deglazing with white wine, stock, & lemon, and integrating the butter and parsley, the flavor was just so-so. Mixed in 2 - 3 tbsp of white miso and YAHTZEE!!

I cooked as the recipe reads except I added more mushrooms. Used wine to deglaze. It was SUPER bland. I wish I would have trusted my gut and seasoned more as I went. It was salvageable, but I would go with chicken stock next time over vegetable & absolutely season the mushrooms & leek mixture prior to deglazing. Adding it at the end is simply not enough. I squeezed in some lemon juice at the end (a must!) but also will zest the lemon next time & mix in ricotta, I think.

Loved the creamy texture of this dish without having to rely on dairy! Made it gluten free and vegan with a few modifications: 1) I added salt and pepper before deglazing the mushrooms and leeks 2) Stirred in 2 generous tablespoons of white miso and red pepper flakes a couple mins before turning off the heat 3) Once the heat was off, I sprinkled in lots of nutritional yeast to taste along with the lemon, vegan butter, and parsley. Total cook time once pasta was in the pot was between 12-14 mins.

Uff, the leek + mushroom + one pot pasta is such an alluring premise... and needs so many changes to be real. 1) Listen to the good people in the comments section! Double the leeks and mushrooms! 2) Added finely chopped rehydrated porcini (3oz) 3) I tried to do the one-pot thing, and have had to add more stock and watch the clock (using orechiette, which is just fussy in my experience). I'll cook the pasta separately next time. 4) Parmesan on top! Lemon zest essential. Good luck!

I doubled the leek and mushrooms

To all the single chefs out there: you may want to halve this recipe, as this recipe's leftovers are pretty shabby (especially if you add baby spinach, as per the suggestion in the header, which goes full-on Slimeville when reheated on the stove).

I made this and, as suggested in the notes, added at least twice as many mushrooms. I also cooked them for a good 15-20 minutes to break them down and get their great flavor. I think that not doing this results in the bland taste that others noted. Like someone suggested I also added some miso paste which helped it thicken up nicely. There was LOTS of flavor this way. I also did the pasta separately. I am not sure why that would really be a big deal to use 2 pots?

OMG, it was so funny to see this recipe featured in the email this morning. I've been making this FOR YEARS after I came home from work one night and stared into my fridge thinking, "What can I make tonight?" and thinking to myself, "Hmm, leeks and mushrooms? That should work with pasta." Of course, you can vary the spices (thyme works well), you can use wine or vermouth or cognac to deglaze the pan, use some cream in place of the butter and ricotta. Whatever you have on hand! So easy!

Added more mushrooms than recipe called for. Didn’t have vegetable broth so used chicken base. All (4!) kids loved as did my wife and I. Ricotta on top was key. May add more greens next time.

Added goat cheese instead of ricotta, next time will double the mushrooms and leeks.

Added a shallot, 2x garlic, ended up using a bit more leek and mushroom than called for. Did an extra ~5 mins of cooking time after adding mushrooms (they were nowhere near caramelized after the time it calls for) and the leeks and shallots also caramelized nicely. Deglazed with white wine and a little lemon, added salt and pepper. Took the suggestion to add 2 tbsp miso (we used white miso)- might've been good without it but the interplay between it and the ricotta made this dish for us

Glad I made this, and glad I read the comments. I doubled the mushrooms, as some people suggested, and I still felt like I wanted more of them. I used homemade chicken broth, because I had some handy. I also added the zest of one lemon at the end, as some people suggested. All that turned out well: the earthiness of the leek/mushroom base contrasted nicely with the lemon and parsley finish. I think next time I will add thyme, which I thought would make it even better.

My kitchen is being remodeled, all I have is an electric skillet so this recipe was perfect. I reduced the pasta to 8oz. and added arugula instead of parsley and put 1/2 of a Knorr vegetable boulion cube to the 4 cups of water. I kept everything else the same. Really delicious. Warning! You can't stop eating this!