Forest beat Exeter City 4-2 on penalties to set up an Emirates FA Cup fifth round tie against Ipswich Town.
Nuno made 10 changes from the side that beat Brighton and Hove Albion 7-0 a week ago, including a first start for Ibrahim Sangaré since August.
The hosts started brightly and took the lead through Josh Magennis inside five minutes - the striker pouncing on an error to bundle home from close-range.
But Forest responded well and it was Sangaré who played a key role in igniting a turnaround. The Ivorian picked out Ramón Sosa on the edge of the area, and the winger showed good strength before firing beyond Joe Whitworth for 1-1.
On 37 minutes, Sangaré played another clever pass through the lines, this time for Taiwo Awoniyi who held off a couple of defenders before producing a clinical finish into the bottom corner.
Exeter made another bright start to the half as the second 45 got underway, however, and it was Magennis who was quickest to respond in the midst of another goalmouth scramble to fire in at the back post.
The introductions of Morgan Gibbs-White and Elliot Anderson in particular injected a spark into the Forest side, however their momentum was halted following an injury to Awoniyi, who collided with Whitworth and sustained a broken nose. The match restarted after a delay of over 10 minutes.
With the scores level after over 100 minutes of normal time, the tie headed to extra time, with Jota Silva striking the woodwork from inside the area moments before the final whistle.
Still 2-2 after extra time, the tie headed to penalties, with Reece Cole and Angus MacDonald missing Exeter's second and third kick of the shootout.
Forest, meanwhile, converted all four of their penalties, with Neco Williams' spot-kick proving decisive to send Forest into round five.