Description
Pasta makes the world go round, and this creamy and delicious Vegan Carbonara Pasta is brimming with flavor and healthy feel-good ingredients. This comforting pasta yumminess boasts a beautiful creamy nut-free sauce that is packed with tasty sun-dried tomatoes, sweet peas, earthy asparagus, and chewy ziti pasta. It is totally satisfying and utterly delicious. You’ll find the whole family seated at the table in a flash!
Whole Food Plant Based, vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, no highly processed ingredients, and gluten free.
Ingredients
Carbonara Ingredients:
- ½ cup yellow onion, fine dice
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 Tablespoon gluten free flour (or flour of choice)
- ½ cup unsweetened plain plant milk
- ¼ cup vegetable broth *
- ½ to 1 cup hot pasta water
- 1 Tablespoons tamari *
- 1 Tablespoon tahini
- 2 teaspoons white miso *
- ½ teaspoon liquid smoke
- 6 sundried tomato halves, finely chopped *
- 3 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
Spices/Herbs Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 Tablespoons dried minced onion flakes
- Pinch dried ground mustard powder
- Pinch nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon sea salt (+/- to taste) *
- Pinch black pepper (+/-)
Other Ingredients:
- 10 oz. ziti pasta (or pasta of choice)
- 1 cup frozen peas
Other Optional Ingredients:
- ½ bunch fresh asparagus, cut into bitesize pieces, steamed, broiled, or roasted *
- Vegan Parmesan Cheese *
Instructions
- Place the Spice/Herb Ingredients in a small bowl, set aside.
- Start boiling water to cook the pasta. Cook the pasta according to package directions until al dente, do not overcook. Pull out 1 ¼ cups of hot pasta water – this will be used in the recipe, set aside. You won’t use the full 1 ¼ cups of the hot pasta water; you are only reserving this amount just in case you need it.
- In the meantime, in a large ceramic/enamel-lined Dutch oven, skillet or similar stock pot, add the finely diced onions; sauté over medium heat until they begin to soften, approximately 5 to 7 minutes. Add a tablespoon or so of water (or broth) if they start to stick and/or to prevent burning.
- Add the minced garlic, and sauté for 30 seconds, then add the flour and sauté for about one minute stirring constantly. The mixture will look like flour covered lumps that is fine. Then add all the remaining Carbonara Ingredients and Spice/Herb mix. Start with only ½ cup of hot pasta water. You may find that you need to add more later to thin out the sauce to fit your preference. Bring to a boil, then immediately lower to a simmer. Simmer for 7 minutes. If you prefer a thinner sauce, then add more hot pasta water about 1 to 2 Tablespoons at a time until the desired consistency is achieved. We added an additional ¼ cup of pasta water (we ended up using ¾ cup hot pasta water in total.) Taste test to see if additional spices are needed. Add them at this time, if needed.
- Add the cooked pasta, frozen peas, and roasted/steamed asparagus to the Carbonara sauce, mix well to thoroughly heat through.
- Serve with Vegan Parmesan Cheese.
Notes
*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.
*Tamari:We used San J Tamari Soy Sauce, Gluten Free, Reduced Sodium. You can substitute the tamari with reduced sodium soy sauce, Braggs Liquid Aminos, or Braggs Coconut Liquid Aminos.
*Sundried Tomatoes: Be sure to select oil free sundried tomatoes. They are typically dried like dates. We use Mediterranean Organic Sundried Roman Tomatoes.
*Miso: We usedMiso Master Organic Mellow White Premium Lite Miso, Certified Gluten Free. Miso really lends itself to balancing flavors when you don’t use oil. You can also use chickpea miso for a soy free version.
*Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
*Asparagus: You could also use steamed/roasted green beans, broccoli, or just about any veggie in place of the asparagus.
*Makes: 3-4 servings
*Storage: Refrigerate and use within 5 days.