Vegan Pumpkin Cream Pasta
Servings 4 people
Equipment
- 5-6qt of soup pot
- Spatula
- measuring cups
- collander or strainer
Ingredients
- 2 cups campanelle pasta or any pasta of choice
- 1 cup chopped portobello mushrooms OR soy curls see notes
- ⅓ cup garbanzo beans or chickpeas (cooked & drained)
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 4 cloves (1 tbsp) garlic minced
- ⅓ cup onions diced
- ½ tbsp dried basil
- 3-4 pieces fresh sage
- ⅓ cup vegan shredded cheese (Violife Parmesan OR Daiya Cheddar)
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or adjust to your liking)
- 1 tsp red chili flakes (optional)
- salt & cracked pepper to taste
SAUCE INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup unsweetened plain plant milk (I used soy milk)
- ½ cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
- 1½ cup vegetable broth or "vegan chicken" broth see notes
- ¼ cup white cooking wine (optional)
- 1 tbsp unsalted vegan butter
Instructions
- Boil pasta according to box instructions in salted water or to al dente (slightly under cooked). Once pasta is tender, drain from pot and leave on collander / strainer to remove excess liquid.
- Place pot back onto the stove top and heat to medium heat. Be sure pot is all dried before using. Drizzle olive oil to coat the pot.
- Toss in the onions, garlic, & sage leaves to the pot. Stir until it is well combined and fragrant. Season with dried basil, pepper flakes, pumpkin spice, and a pinch of salt & pepper. Add the mushrooms or soy curls and sauté. Leave for about 2-3 minutes until the mushrooms sweat (or if the soy curls have slightly browned around the edges).
- Mix in the pumpkin puree until well combined.
- Pour in the vegetable broth and stir. Then add the cooking wine to simmer. Allow all the flavors to soak in the broth for a minute or two. Then, add the milk and lower down your heat to medium. Allow the sauce to simmer for 3-4 minutes. Season with a bit of salt & pepper to taste. Add the garbanzo beans and stir.
- Reduce the heat to low. Toss the pasta into the sauce and gently fold until it is well combined. Add the vegan cheese and fold until it dissolves into the sauce.
- Turn off heat. Add a tablespoon of butter into the pasta and fold until it melts. Sprinkle pepper flakes and fresh ground black pepper to serve. Top with fresh sage for garnish.½
Notes
"Meaty Substitute" - mushrooms are more accessible and gives a great umami flavor. But you can use soy curls (or any vegan chick'n) of your choice to make it taste more like a "chick'n pumpkin pasta". Either way you choose, it will be very tasty.
Vegetable Broth - I used the vegan chicken broth paste by Better Than Bouillon. I used two teaspoons paste and dissolved into water to make the broth. If you don't have this, regular broth or any vegan-friendly bouillon cube will work fine.
Vegan Cheese - Adding vegan cheese will give an added creaminess to the pasta. I used block vegan cheese. Either from Daiya or Violife and shredded it with a box grater. I find that the blocked cheese taste better than the ready made shredded ones. But use whichever cheese you enjoy.
Choice of Pasta - You can make swaps of pastas of your choice. Since my sauce ingredients (and key ingredients) are naturally gluten free, you can also swap the pasta to a gluten free option.