I love tomato confit. It’s probably my favorite way to eat cherry tomatoes, but also it’s a great approach to cooking, since it’s much less active than sautéing and it’s easily scalable. It goes great with pasta, making it a wonderful alternative to a weeknight dinner, so why not mushroom confit pasta?
Confit is a fancy French term, but it basically means to gently and slowly cook meat, fish or vegetables in oil over a low heat into a rich, succulent texture. For this recipe, we’ll poach mushrooms and garlic in olive oil until tender. The oil gets so deep and aromatic you can then use it to fry eggs, or sear vegetables and chicken. The oil is just the beginning, really.
You can make this recipe using your favorite mushrooms; a single variety or a mix of different types, anything will work – I’m using brown mushrooms and maitake. You can serve them as a condiment, as a side, or you can serve them with pasta – homemade fresh pasta guide coming soon!
The great thing about serving it with pasta is how little effort it actually takes: combine all ingredients in a baking pan and bake for an hour. Bring a pot of water to a boil, cook pasta until al dente, add to the mushroom confit, stir everything together and you’re done.
Mushroom Confit Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 oz pasta
- 16 oz assorted mushrooms
- 5 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
- 1/2 cup olive oil,
- salt
- pepper
- fresh parsley or cilantro, for serving
- parmesan cheese, for serving
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 225F.
- Wipe the mushrooms clean with a paper towel. Trim the stems and slice the caps.
- Add mushrooms and garlic to a baking dish, and season with salt and pepper. Cover with olive oil.
- Bake for 1 hour or until mushrooms are tender.
- Cook the pasta until al dente. Add to the mushroom confit, stirring everything together – save some of the infused olive oil for later use. Serve with chopped parsley and grated parmesan.
Tips & Tricks: Before tossing the pasta with the mushroom confit, save some of the olive oil. You can later use it to sauté vegetables or make spaghetti aglio e olio.
