There are days when recipes just CLICK and yesterday was one of those days. One of my most favourite ingredients ever is mushrooms. I will take them on in all sizes, shapes and forms. I think the only mushroom i don’t really much care for is the simple white button mushroom but in a pinch I’ll gladly take that on too.
Yesterday i had a craving as one does and decided I needed to create a carbonara. I have seen creamy pastas as I scrolled through my feed but it wasn’t lost on me that I hadn’t created one in a very long myself. Well that day is no longer because here we are. This pasta has it all. The smokey flavour of bacon (yes i miss that salty breakfast meat—no i won’t eat it cause CRUEL), the creamy sauce, the cheese, the greens, the CARBS.
I’ll split the recipe in 2 parts. Mushrooms and Pasta. Here you goooooooo.
Ingredients
MUSHROOM BACON
- 5 cups mushrooms sliced, i used shiitake and cremini
- 2 Tbsp Olive oil
- 1 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 Tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp tamari
- 1 tsp miso paste
- 4 dashes liquid smoke less is more here
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch garlic powder
- cracked pepper to taste
CREAM SAUCE
- 1/2 cup soaked cashews
- 1 cup pasta water hot
- 1 tsp chickpea miso
- 1/2 lemon juiced
- 1 clove garlic
- sea salt & cracked pepper
Instructions
MUSHROOM BACON
- Pre-heat oven to 375 convection (if you have, if not, don’t worry). Whisk sauce ingredients together. Pour over mushrooms and toss to coat. Spread mushrooms on parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 18-20 minutes.
- Next, make the sauce. For this recipe you will need 1/2 cup of soaked cashews. They don’t take as long as you may think. I soaked mine for 2 hours and the sauce was super creamy. I would recommend a high-speed blender and not a food processor for this.
Cream Sauce
- Drain and rinse your cashews. Place everything in high-speed blender and blend till creamy. Set aside.
PASTA
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta until al dente. Reserve 2 cups pasta water before draining. Heat a large pan over medium high heat. Add olive oil, chilli flakes and onion. Saute for several minutes until onion starts to soften. Add in garlic and frozen peas. Toss to combine. Add in sauce, 3/4 of the smoky mushrooms, spinach and cooked pasta. Toss to coat and heat through. Use the pasta water to thin out to desired consistency. Add in vegan Parmesan, salt and cracked pepper and serve immediately.
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