If you’re a regular here, you’ll know that there’s nothing I love more than pasta dishes that are done by the time the pasta is cooked – and this mushroom, courgette and ricotta pasta is ready in 15 minutes. Perfect for busy days.
This is a lovely, fresh and fast dish with many similarities to a traditional carbonara, in that the beaten egg creates the sauce by cooking with the heat of the cooked pasta.
I’ve used this mouth-wateringly simple recipe by the master of Italian cooking, Antonio Carluccio, as inspiration for this dish. I’ve simply omitted the ceps (to decrease the cooking time even further!) and added courgettes (because I love them).
This one might not be much to look at, but trust me – it’s so handy to know how to cook and very, very tasty!
Want more courgette recipes? Why not try Courgette and Pancetta Orzo, The Tastiest Courgette Lasagne, Creamy Courgette Pasta, Savoury Courgette and Gorgonzola Muffins, Greek Sharer with Courgette Fritters or Courgette and Goats Cheese Gnocchi
Ingredients, Substitutions and Variations
- Rigatoni – this pasta shape really holds the sauce nicely here. You could also use tortiglioni, macaroni or penne.
- Olive oil – use a nice one.
- Button mushrooms – button mushrooms cook quickly and are perfect in this recipe. You could use larger mushrooms, but cut them into small pieces.
- Courgettes – tenderstem broccoli or leeks would also be delicious in this recipe.
- Hard Italian cheese – you could use Parmesan if you don’t need the dish to be vegetarian, or a vegetarian alternative.
- Ricotta – don’t substitute for any other cheese.
- Eggs – to create the sauce.
Top Tips
- Use a big pan This makes a big old portion of pasta, enough for at least four ravenous people. Use the biggest pan you have to make sure you can combine the sauce and pasta properly.
- Don’t toss the mushrooms When you first put the mushrooms in the pan to cook, leave them before stirring for longer than you think you need to. This will give them a great golden colour.
- The eggs will cook! As with a carbonara, you don’t need to blast the eggs with heat. They’ll cook in the residual heat from the pasta.
Mushroom, Courgette and Ricotta Pasta
Ingredients
- 500 g dried rigatoni
- 2 tbsps olive oil
- 200 g button mushrooms
- 2 medium courgettes
- 50 g grated hard Italian cheese
- 250 g ricotta
- 3 eggs
Instructions
- Put the rigatoni on to cook in a large pan of boiling water with a generous pinch of salt.
- Meanwhile, chop the button mushrooms (into halves or thirds is perfect) and put into a large casserole dish with the olive oil. Put the heat on medium and cook for a minute.
- Halve then quarter the courgettes lengthways, then slice thinly. Add to the casserole dish with 50ml water and put the lid on. Cook down for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the grated parmesan and the ricotta. Beat the eggs and add them too – stir quickly and fold in the cooked pasta. When the sauce starts to thicken, the eggs will be cooked.
More quick and easy pasta recipes to enjoy:
- 15 Minute Creamy Chorizo and Leek Pasta
- 15 Minute Creamy Garlic Mushroom Pasta
- Parma Ham, Fig and Blue Cheese Spaghetti
- 4 Ingredient Pea and Cream Cheese Pasta
- Pancetta, Broccoli and Dolcelatte Rigatoni
- Garlic, Chilli and Prawn Tagliatelle
- Quick and Easy Tagliatelle
- Artichoke and Pancetta Pasta
- Garlic Prawn Linguine
- Tuna, Black Olive and Tomato Pasta
- Pesto Pasta with Feta and Green Olives
Get the cook book:
Dinner in 15 Minutes (or less)
16 delicious dinner recipes, all ready in less than 15 minutes! Perfect for weeknights, and clearly presented in this PDF ebook.
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This is the perfect pasta dinner. I really really enjoyed it and will be making it again soon. Thank you!
15 minute dinners are my fave! This was soooo easy to pull together and tasted amazing!
Quick & easy summer pasta recipe, so flavorful and a great way to use up my garden bounty! Thank you!
So simple, yet so delicious. We had some mixed woodland mushrooms leftover and used those, but otherwise followed the recipe and it turned out great!
Simple, yet so flavorful! This was perfect for our family dinner last night – my daughter had 2 bowlfuls!