This sauce has a rich and hearty flavor; it's meaty but no meat. For years I made a mushroom pasta sauce, or mushroom marinara with lots of parsley and other herbs. I used to make double batches and freeze it in jars. It was always handy for a quick and satisfying dinner. I'm sharing the recipe with you now for my mushroom herb pasta sauce.
Mushroom Herb Pasta Sauce
Cleaning out the vegetable drawer I somehow ended the week with three big bunches of parsley. Fresh, fluffy, green, organic flat-leaf parsley. It was too good to be ignored, allowed to wilt away and get tossed. How to use it? Making my favorite pasta sauce, mushroom herb marinara which uses a lot of fresh parsley for an earthy garden flavor.
Parsley: Not Just for Garnishes
Parsley is often relegated to the role of supporting actor as simple garnish. In this recipe, parsley plays a foundational role for my mushroom and herb pasta sauce. The parsley lends fresh herbal flavor to this meatless but meaty-tasting sauce filled with mushrooms, tomatoes, garlic, onion, celery and herbs.
An added health benefit, parsley is good for your immune system, digestion and more.
Prep Your Vegetables: Food Processor or by Hand
For fast prep work, a food processor comes in handy. If you have one but don’t use it much, here is your chance to put it to use. You can prep the vegetables by hand with a chef’s knife.
Strip leaves from two to three large bunches of flat leaf (Italian) parsley, discarding the stems. Wash parsley leaves in cool water and dry on layers of paper towels, kitchen towels or in a salad spinner.
To chop the parsley leaves fine, you can use a food processor with the steel knife or chop by hand. The trick is to drop the dry herbs in through the feed tube while the machine is running.
Next, slice the mushrooms (white mushrooms work fine) and chop some celery. The mushrooms I slice thin in my food processor with the slicing blade. The celery and onions I chop finely by hand.
Simmer Mushroom Pasta Sauce and Enjoy
Once your prep work is done, the sauce is easy to complete by simmering the ingredients in a pot until thick and the flavors are melded together.
Serve it simply over pasta noodles for an easy, healthy dinner. It's tasty over spaghetti squash noodles too. Use it to top stuffed pasta shells or for topping crisp chicken cutlets with a side of broccolini. It’s a versatile sauce, and extra freezes well.
📖 Recipe
Mushroom Herb Pasta Sauce
Equipment
- Food processor (to prep faster)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ½ cups finely chopped parsley leaves about 2 large, full bunches
- ½ onion chopped fine
- 3 celery ribs chopped fine
- 2-3 garlic cloves chopped fine
- 8 ounces white mushrooms cleaned and thinly sliced
- 1 28 ounce canned crushed tomatoes
- 1 28 ounce canned tomato puree
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt kosher or sea
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon dried red pepper
- ½ cup dry red wine or water
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the parsley, onion and celery. Cook until soft, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook for one more minute. Add the mushrooms, tomatoes, and herbs, salt, peppers and wine. Simmer covered until all of the flavors are incorporated, about 40 – 45 minutes. If it gets too thick, add a little water to thin it to your preference
LJP says
I think that parsley is a very underrated ingredient. I will try this v. soon!
Sally says
I love the sound of all that parsley--one of the few things that you can find all year round. I am definitely putting this on my list to make soon, especially when we want something lighter than the Bolognese sauce I squirrel away in the freezer for those emergency nights when I want something quick. Oh wait, that's most nights--I need this. I've used the Pomi diced tomatoes and prefer them to Muir Glen simply because they break down more easily, good for when you don't want discrete chunks of tomatoes that won't melt into the sauce.
Gloria says
I have mushrooms and parsley in the frigde. Your sauce looks delicious. Looking forward to trying this.
Cathy @What Would Cathy Eat? says
Wow, love the massive amount of parsley. I make marinara sauce all the time but want to try your version tonight! I will use Pomi tomatoes, as I stopped using canned tomatoes because of the BPA. (Muir Glen ones don't have BPA but I don't love them.)
Sally says
Hi Cathy. Yep, Muir Glen brand is what I used. I'm always careful too about BPA. Good tip on the Pomi. I'll have to try them. Thanks! Another good brand available in glass jars is Jovial.
Note for readers - If you are not familiar with BPA, it stands for Bisphenol A. BPA is an industrial chemical that has been used to make certain plastics and resins since the 1960s. It's often used in the linings of cans. There are many concerns about it. To read more, try this link.http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/bpa/AN01955