Oyster mushroom pasta.

The mistake in almost every mushroom pasta recipe is adding liquid too early: wine, stock or cream goes in before the mushrooms have taken any colour, and you end up with a beige sauce that tastes of dairy. Brown the mushrooms hard first, deglaze with something sharp, and emulsify with pasta water rather than cream.

What you need

Mushrooms

• 1 lb blue oyster mushrooms, torn
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 6 thyme sprigs
• 2 tbsp sherry vinegar
• Salt, plenty of black pepper

Pasta

• 8 oz tagliatelle or rigatoni
• ¾ cup reserved pasta water
• 1 oz parmesan, finely grated, plus more
• Squeeze of lemon

Method

1. Put the pasta water on and salt it properly. Tear the mushrooms into large, irregular pieces — larger than you think, because they will shrink by a third.
2. Dry-sear the mushrooms. Large pan, high heat, no fat, single layer. Three minutes without touching them, then toss and give them another two. Work in two batches if the pan is crowded.
3. Add the butter and oil once the mushrooms are browned and quiet. Toss to coat, then add garlic and thyme and cook 90 seconds until the garlic is pale gold.
4. Deglaze with the sherry vinegar, scraping the pan. It will hiss and mostly evaporate — that is the point, and it is what stops the dish tasting flat.
5. Cook the pasta to one minute short of the packet time. Reserve ¾ cup of the water before draining.
6. Combine off the heat: pasta into the mushroom pan, half the pasta water, the parmesan, and a good amount of black pepper. Toss hard for a minute — the starch and cheese emulsify into a glossy sauce. Add more water if it tightens.
7. Finish with lemon, more parmesan and a final grind of pepper.

Why sherry vinegar

Browned mushrooms are deeply savoury and can read as heavy. An acid cuts through and makes the whole plate taste more of itself. Sherry vinegar is the best match; dry sherry, marsala or a splash of white wine all work, and lemon juice at the end is the minimum.

No cream. The emulsion of pasta water, butter and parmesan is glossier than cream and does not mute the mushrooms.

Variations by species

Pioppino makes this deeper and more wintry — see the species page. Chestnut adds crunch. Shiitake pushes it toward umami and wants soy rather than parmesan. King trumpet is better sliced into coins and seared, then folded through at the end.