Description
There’s just something magical about creamy comforting pasta, and we got the perfect dish to curb those cravings. Our wholesome, flavorful, and super easy Creamy Garlic Pasta is brimming with bold garlic flavor and velvety, saucey goodness. This vegan Italian classic is healthy and can be whipped up in just about 20 minutes. A perfect dish for busy days when you need dinner on the table fast, making it this week’s awesome Whip It Up Wednesday recipe.
Ingredients
Sauce Ingredients:
- 2 Tablespoons almond butter
- 1 Tablespoon GF flour (or flour of choice)
- ¼ cup vegetable broth *
- ¾ cup water (or broth)
- 2 Tablespoons hot pasta water *
- 2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
Spice/Herb Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 Tablespoon dried minced onion flakes
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon + large pinch sea salt (+/-) *
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper (+/-)
Other Ingredients:
- 12 oz. pasta (of choice)
- 1 ¼ cup frozen peas (or veggie of choice)
Toppings:
- Fresh chopped parsley
- Red pepper flake
- Vegan Parmesan Cheese
Serving Ideas:
- Server with roasted, steamed, or boiled veggies
- Serve with a side Salad
Instructions
- Fill a large stock pot full of water. Add some sea salt to the water. Bring the water to a boil then add the pasta. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking. Note: Pull 2 Tablespoons (or a little bit more) of hot pasta water (see notes) to use later in the recipe, set aside. Boil the pasta until el dente, drain, rinse with cold water to remove any excess starch, shake well, set aside.
- Place the Spice/Herb Ingredients in a small bowl, mix well, set aside.
- In the meantime, in a large ceramic/enamel lined Dutch oven/pot (or similarly large stockpot) add the almond butter, stirring constantly over medium heat for a minute to soften, then add the flour and stir constantly for several minutes to cook the flour (see notes), then add all the remaining Sauce Ingredients and Spice/Herb ingredients and simmer for a few minutes to thicken.
- Add in the cooked pasta and peas, heat the pasta through, then remove from the stove and allow the flavors to marry for a few minutes. Top with Vegan Parmesan Cheese, freshly chopped parsley, and red pepper flakes.
Notes
*TIPS: When adding the almond butter to the warm skillet, stir it around the pan. It will feel more like you are smearing it around the pan, that is OK. Then add the flour, and push it into the almond butter, stirring constantly. This helps cook the flour. It will look like a smeary mess in the pan. Next add the liquids (and other ingredients), stir thoroughly to mix the almond butter/flour mixture with the liquids. Initially it will look like it isn’t going to come together, but keep at it, mixing and pushing the almond butter/flour mixture into the liquids over a medium heat. As the mixture starts to heat up it will thicken and become homogeneous. Keep stirring until it comes together into a sauce. If you taste it, it will taste very garlicky and that is OK, as this sauce will cover 12 oz. of plain pasta. Once combined with the pasta, it will mellow out into a delicious creamy garlic sauce.
*Vegetable Stock: We use Pacific Organic Low Sodium Vegetable Stock. We love this brand because it is Whole Food Plant Based compliant, as it does not contain MSG, has no oil, and does not contain any highly-processed ingredients.
*Flour: We used Bob’s Red Mill gluten free all-purpose baking flour blend. You can use the flour of your choice.
*Hot Pasta Water: When the pasta is almost done, pull out some hot pasta water and set it aside. We used about 2 Tablespoons of the hot pasta water. The salty, starchy hot pasta water adds a little extra flavor, helps glue the pasta and sauce together, and helps thicken the sauce. Additionally, if the sauce tightens up, you can add some hot pasta water to loosen it up again.
*Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
*Serving: 4
*Storage: Refrigerate and use within 5 days.