Orecchiette with Mushroom Thyme Sauce

Have you ever heard of orecchiette pasta? It’s a new one for me, and I only know about it after finding a package a while back. The name literally translates as “little ear”, and the name is due to their ear-like shape. This shape is made by indenting the pasta over the thumb to make a small divot. That little dip in the pasta is supposed to be great for holding creamy sauce, and that’s exactly how I’m going to try it. I was surprised to find so many orecchiette recipes on Pinterest, but this Orecchiette with Mushroom Thyme Sauce recipe won out. It has bacon, so how could I turn that down? Let’s give it a try!

This Orecchiette with Mushroom Thyme Sauce features pasta coated with a creamy, flavorful sauce – and it’s easy enough to make for a weeknight meal!

Recipe Author: David at Spiced
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The Ingredients

The whole reason I’m making this Orecchiette with Mushroom Thyme Sauce is that I found a package of tri-color orecchiette at Home Goods a few months ago. They’re a great source for unusual pasta! Larger grocery stores might also have it (I haven’t looked), and you can always find orecchiete online. I also think small shells would work, but I haven’t tested the theory.

The rest of my pre-shopping check showed me I only had a few ingredients. They were basics like cornstarch, butter, kosher salt, and black pepper. My regular grocery store had the ingredients I needed, so no extra trips or special orders were needed for this recipe.

Orecchiette with Mushroom Thyme Sauce Ingredients
Orecchiette pasta, sliced button mushrooms, half and half, grated parmesan cheese, cornstarch, kosher salt, black pepper, fresh thyme, milk, butter, and thick-cut bacon

The Process

Things begin with boiling the orecchiette and frying up 6 slices of thick-cut bacon. As you can see, I got the bacon, shall we say, extra crispy. I wasn’t paying attention because I was prepping the other ingredients. One second it was fine, and the next it was on the burnt side.

Strips of cooked bacon draining on paper towels
I like to think that I got the bacon extra, extra crispy LOL!

The bacon still worked, believe it or not, so I forged ahead. I drained the grease into a heat-proof container like this bacon grease jar and started on the mushrooms. That meant adding a little bacon grease back to the pan, some butter, and then the mushrooms.

I bought sliced mushrooms to save time. They all fit into the pan, but there was no way to fry one side and flip them. Instead, there were a few layers deep, so I did the best I could. They shrank as they cooked, so there was a little more room in the pan than what you see in the photo.

Sliced button mushrooms in a large skillet
A 12-inch skillet barely had enough room for the sliced mushrooms

The orecchiette finished while the mushrooms were cooking, and I drained it and set it aside. I continued with the sauce in the skillet, and it all went smoothly and according to the instructions. It wasn’t long before I had a lovely cream sauce simmering away on my stove.

Cooked orecchiette in a colander
The cooked orecchiette expanded some but kept its shape

Once the sauce finished, I added the orecchiette to the pan and stirred carefully. I used a 12-inch skillet, and it had just enough room for everything. A large saute pan might have worked better. The high, straight sides give it more room and help keep things in when stirred.

Orecchiette with Mushroom Thyme Sauce in a large skillet
A 12-inch skillet was just large enough for this recipe

Timing

This recipe lists 5 minutes to prep, 25 minutes to cook, and 30 minutes total. I went over that at 40 minutes, but I wasn’t able to break that down. I began this recipe by cooking the bacon and pasta and I prepped while I cooked. It made separating the time impossible.

I’m not sure where the slow-down happened. It may have been overcooking the bacon, but that doesn’t explain the 10-minute difference. It may just be that I’m a slow cook because everything seemed to go smoothly, and I didn’t have any trouble following the instructions.

So how was it?

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This Orecchiette with Mushroom Thyme Sauce is one of those dishes that tastes so good everyone will think it was tons of work. And it's not! Ready in 30-40 minutes, this recipe's star was the creamy mushroom-thyme sauce with bacon. I mean wow! Orecchiette was the perfect pasta to catch all that deliciousness. The sauce was not hard to make at all, especially since I bought pre-sliced mushrooms. Plus there aren't a ton of ingredients, so the prep work isn't bad at all. I'm officially in love with this recipe, and I know I will get request to make it again. This is true comfort food, for sure!
The Hungry Pinner
The Hungry Pinnerhttps://www.hungrypinner.com
I'm Candice, and I'm The Hungry Pinner. I created this blog to share my love for cooking and my experiences with the MANY recipes I've found on Pinterest over the years. Join me as I blog my way through those recipes to find out if they are worth trying yourself.

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This Orecchiette with Mushroom Thyme Sauce is one of those dishes that tastes so good everyone will think it was tons of work. And it's not! Ready in 30-40 minutes, this recipe's star was the creamy mushroom-thyme sauce with bacon. I mean wow! Orecchiette was the perfect pasta to catch all that deliciousness. The sauce was not hard to make at all, especially since I bought pre-sliced mushrooms. Plus there aren't a ton of ingredients, so the prep work isn't bad at all. I'm officially in love with this recipe, and I know I will get request to make it again. This is true comfort food, for sure!Orecchiette with Mushroom Thyme Sauce