This mushroom thyme crème fraîche pasta is so good that I want to sing about it. Maybe I will, but first, I’ll tell you about how good it is.

I made this pasta last Friday night after I put off making it the whole week. Things are busy around the holidays so when I get home at night, I don’t always feel like putting extra effort into cooking. This pasta was the exception.

I stopped on the way home to pick up thyme, because I knew I didn’t have any at home. I already had the mushrooms, kale, crème fraîche, and shallot.

This pasta is perfect for a cold winter night when you want something quick, warming, and flavorful. My favorite elements are the caramelized shallot, mushrooms, and thyme.

Thyme is one of my favorite herbs because it’s so fragrant and fresh. It pairs well with almost anything but it goes especially well with sweet things (see: the caramelized shallot). It also complements earthy vegetables like mushrooms.

I ate two bowls of pasta in one sitting but I still had a vat of leftover noodles. I ended up eating it the next night for dinner. Sometimes pasta isn’t as good on day two but this pasta was still delicious. That’s when you know you’ve hit recipe gold.

Here’s a song that I’ve been jamming out to this morning. When I first saw it, I wrote it off as another weird Sufjan tune (even though I love weird Sufjan tunes). I listened to it and I thought it was beautiful, but I still didn’t get why he would write about Tonya Harding. Then I read this interview and it all made sense.

Mushroom Thyme Crème Fraîche Pasta

Ingredients

1 package of gigli pasta
olive oil for frying
1 medium shallot, chopped
6 mushrooms, sliced
2 cups of kale, torn into small-ish pieces
1 Tbsp thyme leaves
1/4 cup crème fraîche
1/2 cup pasta water
salt and ground black pepper
juice from 1/2 a lemon
thyme leaves and more black pepper for topping

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the shallot.  Once the shallot is slightly brown, add the mushrooms and sauté with some salt and pepper. Add the thyme leaves and sauté the mushrooms for a couple more minutes, or until they’re tender. Remove from heat.

In the meantime, make the pasta noodles. Heat a large pot of salted water over high heat until it comes to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions. A few minutes before the pasta is done cooking, when it’s slightly soft, add the kale leaves to the water.

Strain the pasta and kale, reserving about 1/2 a cup of pasta water. Add the pasta back into the pot you cooked it in and stir in the crème fraîche, pasta water, salt and pepper, lemon juice, and the cooked mushrooms.

Top the pasta with thyme leaves, black pepper, and some flaky sea salt if you desire. Enjoy!