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💭 Why you’ll love this recipe
Unbelievable springtime flavors: There’s peas, there’s shallots, there’s oyster mushrooms, so this pasta embodies all these delicious, fresh springtime flavorsVegan, ready in 30 minutes: With some sleuthing and sequencing, you can build some pretty complex flavors with vegan ingredients in just 30 minutes! I have included instructions for roasting your oyster mushrooms in both the oven and the air fryer! Packed with nutrients: All the ingredients in this pasta are packed with nutrients. Pea shoots have lots of dietary fiber, and several vitamins. Wild mushrooms like oyster mushrooms are rich in antioxidants that helps prevent cancer.
📋 Ingredients and notes
This spring pasta has three parts: pasta, pea shoot pesto, and roasted toppings.
Pasta: I like using long pasta (I used fresh pappardelle this time) Pea shoot pesto: pea shoots, pistachios, garlic cloves, salt, pepper and oil Toppings: oyster mushrooms, shallots, oil, salt and pepper
Notes and Variations
Type of oil: I prefer to minimize the number of ingredients I use in a recipe, so I prefer using avocado oil for both the pesto and the roasting because it has a higher smoke point. You can also use olive oil in both the pesto and the toppings- just make sure that you’re roasting at 375F so you don’t hit the smoke point. Oyster mushrooms vs. other mushrooms: Oyster mushrooms are in season right after Spring rains (or as we think of it in Seattle, for half the year). But you can use almost any other mushroom in this dish instead. Pistachios vs. other nuts: I like using pistachios since it complements the pea shoots flavor amazingly. But you can use most other nuts, or if you’re nut-free, you can also use sunflower or pumpkin seeds.
📖 Step-by-step instructions
Start by roasting the oyster mushrooms and shallots
Detach the oyster mushrooms from their base and cut them into individual pieces. Then, rinse them gently under running water and then use a paper towel or a kitchen towel to dry them out as best as possible. I typically press them gently with a towel and then let them sit swathed in a towel while I prepare the shallots.
Peel the shallots and slice them thinly into small pieces. I don’t mind keeping the green core in my shallots, but you can choose to keep or remove them (process pictures not included for shallots)
Toss both the oyster mushrooms and the shallots with avocado oil, salt, and pepper and then lay them out in a flat layer on either a baking sheet (if using the oven) or an air-fryer tray or basket (if using an air fryer)
If using an air fryer: roast at 360F for about 5 to 10 minutes, then remove the shallots (or they might burn). I suggest checking every minute after the 5 minute mark because the time it takes to roast the shallots will depend on how big the slices are! Then, once you remove the shallots, roast the mushrooms for another 10 to 12 minutes. I used a Breville Smart Oven to roast mine - shallots took 7 minutes, and mushrooms ~20 minutes.
If using an oven: roast at 400F for 5 to 8 minutes, then remove the shallots, and then continue to roast the mushrooms for another 10 to 15 minutes thereafter.
Prepare the pasta
Once you get the mushrooms and shallots into the oven or air fryer, start boiling your pasta water. I used fresh pappardelle, which cooks in about 6 minutes. But cook your pasta to the directions on the package. Drain, but save half a cup of the pasta water to thin out the pesto in case you need to!
Prepare the pea shoot pesto
Add three cups of pea shoots, half a cup of toasted pistachios, garlic cloves, salt, and pepper to a food processor and pulse into a coarse consistency. Make sure to leave out the extra salt in case you use toasted and salted pistachios. Then, slowly pour either olive oil or avocado oil while pulsing to get to the right consistency. Mine took about 3 tablespoons of avocado oil. Set this aside.
Assemble an amazing spring pasta!
Toss the pasta with the pesto, and use the pasta water to thin it out as much as you desire. Then, top with the roasted oyster mushrooms and the shallots, and a few more pistachios for extra crunchiness. Enjoy the most delicious spring pasta with peas ever!
🍴 Serving and storage suggestions
This pasta can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2 to 3 days. I don’t recommend freezing the pasta! You can garnish with additional pea shoots, herbs of your choice, or other crunchy spring vegetables (e.g., like this easy microwave asparagus) or swap the shallots for roasted red onions!
If you like this recipe, don’t forget to try out my other vegetarian pasta recipes:
If you tried this recipe, don’t forget to comment and rate! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
📖 Recipe
