Tonight's Dinner: Spaghetti with Mushroom, Rosemary & Pumpkin Seed "Pesto"

I adapted this from the new book from Costco - A Decade of Cooking The Costco Way. This was really easy and just delicious. I think the more expensive and exotic the mushrooms, the more delicious the dish will be. I used dried mushrooms - a combination I get at Costco that has morels, porcini, and a lot of shiitake among a few others. I separated 3 morels and used them for garnish on top. So pretty, especially with a snow-fall of fresh parmesan shreds on top.

Spaghetti with Mushroom, Rosemary & Pumpkin Seed Pesto

3/4 cup roasted pumpkin seeds

1 clove garlic, minced

1/3 cup Italian parsley, chopped coarsely

1.5 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped

3 cups dried mixed mushrooms, soaked in

4 cups hot water

3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt and black pepper

1 lb spaghetti

Grated parmesan, for garnish

2 pretty mushrooms, sliced, for garnish

In a bowl, place the dried mushrooms and top with the hot water. Cover and let sit for 15 minutes, or more, until the mushrooms are soft. Drain and reserve the liquid. Place the mushrooms in a strainer and squeeze out the excess liquid. Place them on paper towels and let them sit; set aside.

In a skillet, heat a 1 tbsp of the oil. Add the mushrooms and the garlic and cook, stirring, until the mushrooms take on some color and the garlic is light brown. Let cool for 15 minutes.

Place mushrooms in food processor fitted with S blade. Add rosemary, pumpkin seeds and parsley. Run machine, pureeing the mixture. Add the oil in a thin stream until you get a smooth texture. If the consistency isn’t right, add some warm water in a thin stream until you get the consistency you need. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Place a large pot of water up to a boil. Add salt and pasta, cook according to package directions. While cooking pasta, place half the mushroom “pesto” in a small pot with a little bit of water and heat it, whisking, until the water is incorporated. Drizzle in a bit more oil if you wish. Re-season if necessary. Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup of pasta water.

Mix the pasta with the sauce and cook for a minute or so in a large skillet over MED heat. Add some of the pasta water if the texture of the sauce is dry. I needed ½ the water for a smooth sauce.

Serve garnished with some parmesan, and a couple of slices of mushroom (if you have morel mushrooms, or chanterelles, then a couple of nice slices are really pretty on top).

Risa’s notes:

Original recipe called for 3/4 cup walnuts and 1.5 lb cremini mushrooms (small brown mushrooms), neither of which I had and my son is allergic to walnuts.

Yield: 6 servings, if using all the sauce

Source: A Decade of Cooking The Costco Way

Posted by RisaG 12/13/11