If you are a mushroom lover, you will love this baked pasta dish! It’s a great combination of both fresh and dried mushrooms, that are nestled in a creamy, cheesy sauce, then topped off with more cheese, because why not? To make it fun and “fancy”, I baked the pasta in individual ramekins so everyone gets their own.
Let’s talk about the dried mushrooms for a minute. I used a mixture of shiitake, oyster and porcini mushrooms that I got at Trader Joe’s. Before these are added to the dish, they take a nice long soak in hot water to re-hydrate them. The wonderful thing about this is that the water then turns into a deeply flavored mushroom broth…do.not.throw.this.away! This flavorful broth goes right into the creamy, cheesy sauce. The broth gives the sauce a deep, almost smoky flavor, trust me, it’s really incredible. You may even think there’s bacon in the dish, in fact, both Kelly and Steve asked if there was. It’s sure to please vegetarians and meat eaters alike!
I baked this in individual ramekins, because I thought that would be fun, but if you prefer, you can totally bake this in a 9×13 pan. It can also be made ahead, refrigerated and baked when you’re ready. You’ll just need to add another 5-10 minutes of baking time.
Cheesy Baked Mushroom Penne Florentine
- 1 lb penne pasta
- 1 oz dried mushrooms (I used a Trader Joe’s mix with shiitake, oyster and porcini)
- 2 cups hot water
- 2 tbsp butter, divided
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 3/4 tsp salt, divided
- 3/4 tsp pepper, divided
- 3 large cloves garlic, minced
- 4 oz shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme, minced
- 3/4 cup pecorino romano, shredded and divided
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan
- 8 oz frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
- 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, shredded
Cook pasta until al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Soak dried mushrooms in hot water for about 15 minutes.
Drain and reserve liquid. If necessary, add water to the liquid to make 1 1/2 cups.
Rough chop mushrooms, set aside.
Melt 1 tbsp butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
Add fresh mushrooms and saute until browned, about 5 minutes.
Add re-hydrated mushrooms and cook for an additional minute. Remove from pan and set aside.
Add remain tbsp butter and olive oil to skillet and heat over medium heat.
Add onions and saute for 4 minutes.
Season with 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.
Add garlic and saute for 1 additional minute.
Sprinkle flour over onion mixture, stirring to coat.
Add wine, stirring well to combine. Bring to a boil.
Slowly stir in reserved mushroom liquid. Bring to a boil.
Stir in cream and thyme. Bring to a boil and cook until slightly thickened.
Turn heat off. Stir in 1/2 cup pecorino and parmesan, a little at a time, until melted.
Season with remaining 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper.
Stir in spinach and reserved mushrooms.
Finally, add pasta to the skillet stirring until pasta is well coated with the sauce.
Spray 5 (2 cup) ramekins with cooking spray.
Divide pasta mixture between the ramekins.
Top each ramekin with equal amounts of the mozzarella and remaining 1/4 cup pecorino.
Place ramekins on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until cheese is melted and browned.
Serve immediately in the ramekins.
ENJOY!
