By Hetty Lui McKinnon - April 22, 2025

As mélange of mushrooms, roasted with aromatic garlic, sweet red onions, and warming woody herbs, brings elegance to this easy weeknight pasta. Roasting mushrooms is a wonderful hands-off technique, letting them soften and turn golden at the edges while staying moist and plump. Lemon wedges roast too, unlocking their sweetness and adding a deeper citrus flavor. A dash of soy sauce deepens the umami. Use a mix of mushrooms for more texture and complexity, and swap in nondairy butter and nutritional yeast to keep it vegan.

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Ingredients

Yield: 4 servings

• 2 pounds mixed mushrooms (such as cremini, oyster, and shiitake)
• 1 red onion, cut into thin wedges
• 20 large sage leaves, chopped
• 5 to 6 sprigs thyme or 2 to 3 sprigs rosemary, leaves picked
• 4 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 2 lemons, quartered, plus 1 more to serve
• 1 pound short pasta
• 3 tablespoons butter (or nondairy butter)
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• Grated Parmesan or nutritional yeast, to serve
• Handful chopped chives or parsley

Preparation

Step 1
Heat the oven to 425°F.

Step 2
Prepare the mushrooms:

• For clustered varieties like oyster, tear them at the base to separate.
• For capped mushrooms, cut into halves or quarters depending on size.
  They don’t need to be uniform.

Step 3
On a sheet pan, combine mushrooms, red onion, sage, thyme, and garlic.
Drizzle generously with olive oil, season with salt and pepper.
Nestle lemon wedges throughout.
Roast 20–25 minutes until mushrooms collapse and are golden at the edges.

Step 4
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Cook pasta until al dente.
Drain, reserving 1 cup of pasta water.

Step 5
Remove mushrooms from oven.
Mash roasted garlic with a fork into a paste right on the sheet pan.
Squeeze roasted lemons over everything.

Step 6
Return pasta to the pot over medium-low heat.
Add butter, soy sauce, and ½ cup pasta water.
Toss for 1–2 minutes until butter melts.

Step 7
Add the mushroom mixture (scraping up any bits from the pan).
Toss for 2 more minutes.
Add more pasta water if dry.
Drizzle generously with olive oil, season with salt and pepper.

Step 8
To serve, squeeze fresh lemon juice over the top, finish with Parmesan (or nutritional yeast), and sprinkle with chives or parsley.

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