Pasta with pancetta and mushrooms is a delicious easy pancetta recipe that you can make as a weeknight meal or as a special dinner. This pancetta pasta is perfect any time of year.
Why You'll Love This Easy Pasta
What makes this pasta with pancetta and mushrooms so easy is there are very few ingredients. All the ingredients are big on flavor and very easy to find in grocery stores. How can you not love a mushroom pasta with salty bites of crispy pancetta!
I love making this simple pasta recipe all throughout the year, especially in the Fall but it is also light enough for the Summer too!
It's a great meal for busy nights.
What You Will Need
- Spaghetti: I prefer spaghetti for this recipe because it picks up the mushrooms and pancetta when I twirl the pasta. You can use any pasta you have on hand.
- Pancetta: This is Italian bacon and full of so much flavor. You can use regular bacon if you do not have pancetta but try to find pancetta if you can.
- Mushrooms: I really like using baby Bella mushrooms for this recipe. You can use any variety of mushrooms that you love. The mushrooms add a meaty bite to the pasta.
- Olive oil: Olive oil is the base for the sauce so try to use the best quality you can.
- Parmesan cheese (the real stuff!)
- Fresh garlic: Fresh garlic imparts a beautiful note to the sauce and the pasta.
- Red pepper flakes: This will not add heat. It adds a wonderful depth of flavor to the sauce.
- Kosher salt and pepper
I will often keep many of these items on hand so I have a quick easy dish to throw together during the week. I do love pasta dishes and make them all the time.
I may be biased but pasta to me is just so easy to throw together and should be part of everyone's cooking repertoire.
How to make pasta with pancetta and mushrooms
The steps to making this pancetta mushroom pasta are as easy as the ingredients. It is so easy that we make this dish as an alternative to takeout when we are just too tired to cook but we still want a good meal.
Here is what you need to do.
- Bring your water to a boil and cook your pasta (reserve some of that pasta water!)
- Saute your pancetta and mushrooms in a large pan along with your olive oil and red pepper flakes.
- Add it all together. Once your pasta is finished cooking, throw it into the pan with the mushrooms and pancetta along with some of that reserved pasta water.
- Toss for a minute.
- Serve with your freshly grated Parmesan.
As you can see from these steps, this pasta with pancetta and mushrooms is so easy to make! This mushroom pasta with pancetta will come together in no time and will certainly be a hit with everyone who tries it.
Pairing Ideas
If you are looking for ideas on what to serve with this pancetta pasta with mushrooms recipe, here are some ideas:
For more easy pasta recipes
If you just need an easy sauce, you should try my White Wine Garlic Butter Pasta. It's as easy as it gets.
Pasta with Pancetta and Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 1 lb spaghetti
- 8 ounces baby bella mushrooms sliced and cleaned
- 6 ounces pancetta diced
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup good olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt or to taste
- ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ¼ teaspoon Black pepper
Instructions
- Fill a large pasta pot with water and place over high heat to come to a boil.
- In a large saute over medium heat add your olive oil and red pepper flakes and warm for about 3 minutes to let the red pepper release into the oil.¼ cup good olive oil, ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Now add your pancetta and cook until the pancetta starts to crisp, about 5 minutes6 ounces pancetta
- Now add your mushrooms and saute until slightly soft (about 5 minutes).8 ounces baby bella mushrooms
- Reduce heat to low and add your garlic stirring it well until combined.6 cloves garlic
- Your pasta water should be boiling. Once this happens, add a good handful of salt to the water so it's nice and salty.
- Add your spaghetti and cook according to instructions for al dente.1 lb spaghetti
- Once your pasta is in the water and has been cooking for a few minutes, take a coffee mug and scoop out a mug full of the starchy water and set aside.
- Also, scoop out a ladle full of pasta water from the pot and add it to your mushroom and pancetta pan and mix well. This is your sauce. The reserved pasta water is just in case the pasta looks dry later when you add it to the pancetta and mushrooms.
- Once pasta is cooked, drain the pasta and add it to your pan of mushrooms and coat the pasta well by constantly turning it around in the sauce. Add your salt and pepper.1 teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon Black pepper
- Keep tossing your pasta in the pan for a few minutes over low heat then remove pan from the heat.
- The pasta may have absorbed a lot of the sauce. If it has, and it looks dry, add ½ of your mug of reserved pasta water to it and toss it around. Keep doing this until you have a moist looking pasta.
- Add ½ cup of your parmesan cheese.1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- Serve with extra parmesan on the side.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition Values are estimates only.
See full nutrition disclaimer hereTried the Recipe? We Would Love To Hear From You In The Comments Below!
Gail says
Absolutely fabulous!
fabulous!
Melissa says
I am so glad you enjoyed it Gail! 🙂
Penny says
This is one of the best pasta recipes I’ve had in a long time! We all enjoyed this so much.
Melissa says
So glad to hear that 🙂
Patricia Morris says
So quick and easy and satisfying! I just made this for the first time and added a bit of spinach to round out the meal without throwing together a salad. My husband liked it and ate quite a bit more than he has been of late
Melissa says
So glad you both enjoyed it 🙂
Joni says
My hubby loves this. I also add a few sun-dried tomatoes and a little few fresh spinach leaves.
Melissa says
I am so glad to hear that 🙂 Those additions sound delicious with the pasta!
Teak Simonton says
Used Hawk's Wing mushrooms found in Colorado Mountains - strong flavor was perfect for this recipe. We enjoyed it immensely - used angel hair pasta as that was what was on hand. Delicious!
Melissa says
Those mushrooms sound delicious! So glad you enjoyed it 🙂