Cheesy Garlic Mustard Pesto Pasta with Crispy Dryad's Saddle

This recipes draws on Lisa's amazingly flavorful and fragrant Garlic Mustard Pesto. The garlic mustard pesto is super fragrant, complex, and dare I say, luscious. It gives basil pesto a run for its money...

Dryad's Saddle is a really common wild mushroom that I've been harvesting a lot of lately. In this recipe, they're sliced thinly and fried crispy in butter—they add a savory crunch to the whole dish. If you haven't got this on hand, use fresh shiitake.

Cheesy Garlic Mustard Pesto Pasta

What You Need:

1 lb rice or quinoa pasta of your preference (Or go gluten if you can handle it)
1 1/2 cups Lisa's Garlic Mustard Pesto
1 cup grated parmesan or other hard cheese
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil

Crisp Mushrooms

5 fresh, young Dryad's Saddle (about 2 or 3oz)
1 tbsp butter

• Put a pot on to boil. When it's rolling, drop in your pasta and stir.


• In a small pan, heat the butter


• Slice the dryad's saddle thinly and drop into the butter once it starts to melt. Cook these at medium heat for 5-10 minutes, until they turn light brown and crispy—just in time for the pasta to finish. When they're ready, take them off the heat and set them aside


• Once the pasta is al-dente, strain it from the pot with a large slotted spoon into a medium bowl. The point here is to bring along some of the cooking water in the process.


• Stir the pesto into the hot pasta.


• Stir in the cheese, vinegar, and oil.


• Add a little more cooking water to loosen the whole mixture a touch. Add salt and pepper to taste, if necessary. Sprinkle on the crispy mushrooms and serve hot with a nice glass of wine, or in my case, a beer :).