Mushroom and Bacon Pasta is the one-pot recipe for you if you are looking for a quick gluten-free weeknight meal that is light, creamy,  incredibly easy, and all wrapped up in cheesy, earthy gourmet flavors in less than 20 minutes!  It's got bacon, asparagus, and mushrooms in it, and the creamy pasta sauce is just plain delicious to everyone!

What to pair with this pasta dish?

Our family goes bananas over this dish.  We like to pair the pasta with Fluffy Gluten-Free Buttermilk Biscuits, Savory Cheesy Zucchini Bread, or Gluten-Free Garlic Parmesan Rolls!

What type of gluten-free pasta to use?

Not all gluten-free pastas are made the same.

For example, I find that many brown rice noodles tend to cook quicker and become mushier much easier than corn noodles, which can have a grainy texture if not cooked enough.

My little family actually prefers quinoa noodles, which seem to have a level consistency that has a minimal grainy or mushy texture.

We also really like red lentil noodles, chickpea noodles, and combination pastas that use a combination of different ingredients.  It just depends on what you are making, the sauce involved, and the temperature you need to eat the pasta at.

For this dish, I prefer to use a penne or rotini shaped noodle to hold up to the hot temperatures and the mixing of ingredients.  Stay away from spaghetti noodles for this recipe as they tend to cook up really quickly and then fall apart into a mushy ball when you start stirring the last few ingredients in during the last step in the recipe.

What type of vegetables to use?

You can use whichever vegetables you like for this recipe.

This bacon and mushroom pasta dish calls for:

• 1 ½ cups shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• ¾ pound asparagus, chopped

but you can use whatever you've got in that fridge of yours.  I would highly recommend always using some sort of mushroom because the flavor that comes from sauteeing the mushrooms is what gives some of that earthy natural light flavor that the dish is known for.

If you don't have shiitake mushrooms, no worries.

If you take a close look at my updated pictures of this dish you might notice that there are a few shiitake mushrooms in there, but the majority of the dish is taken over by baby bella mushrooms and white mushroom slices.  It's what I had in my fridge at the moment.  Guilty!

This dish is great with spinach, broccoli, and peppers too!

Just remember, that no matter what vegetables you choose, definitely keep some mushrooms in the mix no matter which kind of mushroom it is!

What type of Bacon to use:

The recipe calls for 5 slices of thick cut bacon, cooked and chopped.

BUT......

If you are in a time crunch or don't feel like cooking up bacon, then guess what????

Use the bacon that you have on hand OR use bacon bits like I typically do when in a crunch or feeling a bit lazy.

What other ingredients do I need?

You will need a short list of other ingredients that we have not discussed yet...

• 2 tablespoon garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 6 oz mascarpone cheese
• 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes, or less if you do like a little spice
• Parmesan cheese and cracked black pepper as garnish (optional)

How to make Bacon and Mushroom Pasta:

1. Heat skillet.  Add the olive oil to a large hot skillet over medium heat.  Add the minced garlic and allow the garlic to become fragrant and turn a golden brown, about 2 minutes.
2. Mushrooms.  Add the mushrooms and allow the mushrooms to cook and soften for 3-4 minutes.
3. Add Ingredients.  Add in the chicken broth, mascarpone cheese, asparagus spears, and gluten-free pasta, stirring the skillet so that all of the pasta is underneath the liquids.
4. Check for doneness. At around 5 minutes, check the pasta and asparagus for doneness. Some gluten-free pastas may need a few more minutes to continue cooking.
5. Remove from heat.  Remove the skillet from heat to allow the sauce to thicken slightly.  Add the bacon crumbles, red pepper flakes, and any garnishes like black pepper or shredded parmesan cheese to the top of each serving.

Pro Recipe Tips:

Don't let the garlic brown too much or it will turn into a bitter tasting surprise!

Make sure that all of your ingredients are gluten-free if you need to recipe to be 100% gluten-free.  Sometimes foods can slip gluten in there even we think that there would be no reason to have gluten in the product.  So be careful!

If you are looking to make this mushroom dish into an entirely meat-free dish, just omit the bacon and you've got yourself a delicious #MeatlessMonday recipe for your family!

More Pasta with Vegetables:

Noodle Bowls with Parmesan and Broccolini, Cucumber Pasta Salad, Goat Cheese Pasta with Sunflower Seeds, Baja Avocado Pasta, and Chicken Pasta in Garlic Basil Butter Sauce are the most popular pasta recipes that contain oodles of veggies!

 

This post was first published on June 15, 2015 and last updated on April 10, 2020.