Textual Chef Textual Chef

Simple Mushroom Penne with Walnut Pesto

A simple vegetarian pasta dish featuring butter-sauteed golden mushrooms, penne, and a quick homemade walnut pesto.

40 minEasyServes 4462 cal/serving

AmericanDinnerStovetop and BlenderVegetarianEgg-FreeSoy-FreeShellfish-FreeSesame-FreePork-FreeAlcohol-FreeCorn-Free

Ingredients

  • 8 oz penne pasta
  • 4 tbsp butter
  • 16 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
  • 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1 cup walnuts
  • 1 1/2 cups spinach or basil, packed
  • 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • to taste salt and pepper

Instructions

  1. 1

    Cook 8 oz penne pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

  2. 2

    Toast 1 cup walnuts in a small skillet over low heat without oil for 5 minutes until fragrant. Pulse toasted walnuts, 1 1/2 cups packed spinach or basil, 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 clove garlic, 2 tbsp lemon juice, and to taste salt and pepper in a food processor until mostly smooth.

  3. 3

    Melt 4 tbsp butter in a wide skillet over medium heat. Add 16 oz sliced fresh mushrooms and saute for 8-10 minutes until deep golden brown. Stir in cooked penne pasta, 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, and to taste salt and pepper.

  4. 4

    Divide pasta into bowls and top or toss with the walnut pesto.

Questions

Can I make Simple Mushroom Penne with Walnut Pesto dairy-free?

Not cleanly. Here the dairy (4 tbsp butter, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded) is the backbone of the dish, and plant-based substitutes change both its texture and its flavor. If you need strictly dairy-free, start from the dairy-free dinner collection instead.

Can I make Simple Mushroom Penne with Walnut Pesto gluten-free?

Yes. The gluten in this entry is 8 oz penne pasta. Swap the pasta for a gluten-free one, cooked a minute short of its package time. Everything else proceeds as written.

How long does Simple Mushroom Penne with Walnut Pesto keep?

Refrigerate it in a sealed container for up to four days and stir it back together before serving.

Can I halve or double Simple Mushroom Penne with Walnut Pesto?

Yes. As written it serves 4. Every ingredient in this entry carries precomputed half and double quantities, and the app's batch dial rewrites them inside each step. Doubled, blend in batches rather than overfilling the jar.

Serve it with

Cook this free in the app

Textual Chef is a plain-text cooking reference of 2,083 recipes, free to read and cook from, with no account and no paywall. In the app, this entry scales itself: half, standard, or double batch, every quantity recomputed inside the step that uses it. No ads, no life stories, no photos of somebody else's dinner.

The entries are curated and public-domain sourced, written to a fixed template and checked against it: tested quantities, one closed vocabulary of methods, and precomputed half and double batches on every line. Nothing here is a scraped blog post.

Cook this free in the appNo download needed. It opens in your browser, instantly. The kitchen tools (planner, shopping list, pantry, import) are $5.33 a month billed annually, and the first 30 days are free.