Wicked Serious Carbonara

Carbonara, an Italian classic, is now a plant-forward masterpiece. We’re banging it out with cashews for creaminess, mushrooms for meatiness and pasta because, PASTA!

Serves 4-6
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 45 minutes

Recipe courtesy of Wicked Healthy, for Veganuary
Imagery © Derek Sarno
Find more great-tasting recipes on the Wicked Healthy website.

Method

• In a large sauce pot add cashews (if you didn’t soak them), cauliflower, garlic, a pinch of salt, bay leaf and 3 cups of water. Cover and bring to a slow boil over a medium-high heat.
• Cook for 10-15 minutes or until the cauliflower easily breaks apart. Strain and remove bay leaf.
• Transfer mixture to a high-speed blender (add cashews at this point if you pre-soaked them). Add pine nuts, miso and salt. Begin blending on low-speed while slowly adding the soy milk. Once incorporated, blend on high for couple minutes until the mixture is silky smooth.
• Set aside half of the mixture for this recipe and save the remaining mixture in a closed container in the fridge for up to a week for other use.

To make the mushrooms

• Preheat oven to 375.
• Add sliced shiitakes to a small bowl and toss with 1 T of the oil, smoked paprika and pinch of black pepper. In a large oven-safe skillet, heat 2 Tbsp oil on the stovetop over medium-high heat. Add shiitake mushrooms and sauté for 2 minutes, then transfer pan directly to oven and finish roasting for 10 minutes. Remove and transfer the mushrooms to a paper towel to allow to drain and crisp up.

To complete the dish

• Cook fettuccine al dente according to the package instructions, set aside.
• Heat large sauce pot on medium heat until hot, then add oil, onions and sliced garlic cloves and sauté for 3 minutes until they begin to brown. Add a splash of water (or white wine if handy) to loosen, then half of the alfredo-style sauce, peas and mushrooms.
• Heat for 1 minute then add pasta and stir to coat.
• Remove from heat and garnish with the parsley, black pepper and salt, to taste.

Helpful Tip: while preparing this, we cooked the pasta ahead of time, and when it was time to add the pasta to the sauce we boiled a small pot of water and poured it over the cooled pasta to loosen and bring it up to temp before adding to the heating sauce.