Creamy Garlic Mushroom Pasta — a plant-based Italian recipe by BOSH!
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Creamy Garlic Mushroom Pasta

This one is genuinely one of our go-to weeknight dinners when we want something that feels indulgent but comes together in about 15 minutes. The sauce is silky, garlicky, and rich in a way that's hard to believe is completely plant-based. Soft chestnut mushrooms soak up all those buttery, herby flavours and the result is proper comfort food. We've made this for meat-eaters who couldn't believe there was no cream or parmesan involved. Make it tonight, you won't regret it.

Cook: 15 min
Serves 4

Before You Start

  • Blender (powerful)
  • Large frying pan
  • Cooking pan

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp thyme
  • 1 tbsp rosemary
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 ½ tbsp plant-based butter
  • 4 long shallots finely sliced
  • 6 garlic cloves finely sliced
  • ½ tbsp salt
  • 500g chestnut mushrooms - sliced
  • Pinch of pepper
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 250ml soy cream
  • salt
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 portobello mushrooms
  • ½ tbsp plant-based butter
  • Pinch of salt
  • Pinch of pepper
  • 1 ½ tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 4 portions of cooked spaghetti
  • parsley
  • chives for garnish

Method

1

Cooking the sauce

  • Melt the dairy free butter in a pan and soften the shallots
  • Add the garlic to the pan, stir it into the shallots, add the salt and pepper and stir everything together
  • Add the thyme, rosemary and olive oil and stir everything together
  • Add the chestnut mushrooms to the pan and fry them until they're nice and soft (add some more salt and pepper if you think the dish needs it)
2

Blend the ingredients

  • Put the contents of the pan in a powerful blender and add the dijon mustard, lemon and soya cream
  • Whizz the contents of the blender into a smooth creamy sauce
3

Frying the mushrooms

  • Add the oil to the pan and fry the portobello mushrooms with a grind of salt and pepper, butter and the remaining dijon mustard - make sure the mushrooms are well cooked and significantly smaller than when you start
  • Pour the mushroom sauce into the pan, warm it up and add the spaghetti and parsley
4

Time to serve

  • Fold everything together and serve immediately with a sprinkle of chives

Tips & Variations

  • Get the mushrooms golden: Don't crowd the pan or they'll steam instead of fry. Give them space and a bit of patience and you'll get so much more flavour.
  • Pasta water is your friend: Save a mugful before you drain the pasta. Stirring a splash into the sauce at the end makes it glossy and helps everything cling together perfectly.
  • Switch up the mushrooms: We love chestnut mushrooms here but Ian swears by using a mix of chestnut and shiitake when he wants something a bit more earthy and special.

Why This Works

The trick is blending part of the sauce to get that creamy, velvety texture without any dairy at all. It coats the pasta beautifully and carries all the garlic and herb flavour right through every bite. Don't rush the mushrooms either, letting them go properly soft in the butter and olive oil is what gives this dish its depth.