Shiitake Carbonara
Serves 4
Ingredients
1½ lb. shiitake mushrooms, stems removes and thinly sliced
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium shallots, minced
1 cup parsley, roughly chopped
5 large egg yolks
1 large egg
4 oz. Parmesan, plus more for serving, grated
1½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper, plus more
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 lb. orecchiette
Salt to taste
Preparation
Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. While we wait, prep the vegetables.
Whisk the egg yolks, whole egg, grated Parmesan, and freshly ground black pepper in a medium bowl and set aside.
Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high for about 3 minutes (without any oil) so the pan is very hot. Add the mushrooms to the pan and toss with extra-virgin olive oil to coat. Cook, tossing once every 4–5 minutes (but mostly undisturbed), until mushrooms are mostly golden brown, 13–16 minutes. The mushrooms will release a lot of moisture before they start to brown, so stay patient
Once mushrooms have been cooking for about 10 minutes, add the orecchiette to your boiling water and set a timer for 2 minutes before al dente according to package directions.
Once the mushrooms have browned, reduce heat to medium-low and add garlic, shallots, and and salt. Cook for 30-60 seconds stirring often, until aromatics are softened but not browned.
When pasta is 2 minutes shy of al dente, scoop out 2 cups of pasta water, then drain pasta.
Add pasta along with 1 cup pasta water to the mushroom mixture. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring often to finish cooking the pasta and absorb liquid, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for 1 minute. (This step is important—if the pasta is too hot when you add the egg mixture, it will turn into scrambled eggs)
Add ½ cup pasta water to the reserved egg mixture and whisk to combine and loosen eggs. Gradually add egg mixture to pot, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon and adding more pasta cooking liquid as needed to loosen the sauce, until it is creamy and coats all noodles. Add parsley and stir again to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning for salt. Divide pasta into 4 bowls and top with Parmesan and a few cracks of pepper.
