Are you looking for a dish that everyone agrees with? Pasta. Easy to prepare, inexpensive and comforting, this dish is available to suit your taste thanks to sauces, each more delicious than the next. Carbonara, bolognese, pesto… You’re spoiled for choice. Only then do most of these preparations contain products of animal origin. So if you’re lactose intolerant or lean towards a more plant-based diet, we recommend revisiting 5 classic pasta recipes in a vegan version. Much to the delight of animals, the planet and your taste buds.
Pasta vegetable pesto
Pasta with pesto is a great classic of the Italian kitchen, but also of the student kitchen. And for good reason: it is a simple, cheap and yet delicious dish. The original recipe for this basil sauce contains parmesan and is therefore not suitable for vegans or people with lactose intolerance. No way to deprive yourself of it! With this recipe from Bio-planet you can make a creamy and herbaceous pesto, 100% vegan. For this recipe (4 wraps) you will need:
- 500 grams oyster mushrooms
- 1 flat parsley
- 1 basil plant
- 4 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 1 clove of garlic
- 400 g penne
- 100 grams of pumpkin seeds
- 7 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt pepper
Recipe : Start by stripping the basil and flat-leaf parsley plants and the thyme sprigs. Coarsely chop the oyster mushrooms and finely chop the garlic clove. Reserve your ingredients.
Preheat your oven to 180°C. Spread the pumpkin seeds on a plate and bake them for about 10 minutes. Take them out when they are lightly toasted and let them cool. Meanwhile, mix the basil leaves and flat-leaf parsley with the garlic and about 5 tablespoons of olive oil. Then add the pumpkin seeds and mix again until smooth and homogeneous. Add salt and pepper.
Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan and sear the oyster mushrooms. Add thyme, salt and pepper. Cook the penne al dente in boiling salted water, as directed on the package – if purchasing in large quantities, make sure to taste your pasta to make sure it is cooked. When they are cooked, drain them and pour the pesto directly into your pan. To blend. Before serving, divide the pasta between plates and place the oyster mushrooms on top. At the table !
Vegan carbonara pasta
Simple and quick to make, carbonara pasta is often unanimous. But with the cream, eggs, and bacon, this dish seems far from a vegan diet… However, it’s quite possible to revisit this sauce in a vegan version. Smoked tofu can be a great substitute for bacon bits, kala namak salt has a taste very close to that of eggs, and malted yeast adds a cheesy touch. So, get to your stove! To prepare carbonara-style pasta in a vegan version, you will need the following ingredients (serves 2 people): [2]
- 250 g dried pasta (spaghetti)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 150 g smoked tofu
- 1 tablespoon of tamari
- 250 ml soy milk
- 30 g margarine
- 1/8 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/3 level teaspoon kala namak salt (can be found in organic stores)
- 2 tablespoons malted yeast
- 1/4 teaspoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon cashew puree
- 5 g cornflour
- 5 g chickpea flour
- Pepper
Recipe : Cut the smoked tofu into thin strips to form your “bacon”. Fry them in a pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat for 8 minutes. Stir regularly. Deglaze with the tamari and let the “lardons” grill for a few more minutes. Lower the heat and set aside.
Boil the pasta in lightly salted water and stop cooking just before it is done al dente. Save the cooking water. Heat the soy milk in a frying pan over medium heat and add the margarine. Stir. When the margarine has melted, add the tomato paste, kala namak salt, turmeric, malt yeast and cashew puree. Mix with a whisk.
In a bowl, dilute the cornstarch and chickpea flour with cold water. Pour this mixture into your pan and let it thicken for a few minutes over low heat, stirring frequently. Once your sauce has a “coating” texture, add the cooked pasta and mix. You can thin the sauce with the pasta cooking water if it has thickened too much. Finally add the “bacon” and pepper. Your pasta “carbonara” is ready! Don’t hesitate to add pepper to your plate, for even more flavor.
Pasta bolognese, 100% vegetable
Comforting, bolognese pasta appeals to young and old. But how do you reproduce this classic if you stop eating meat? Easy thanks to the textured soy proteins. These have the advantage that they bring protein into your meal and corn salad in your pasta dish with sauce. This Voyage gourmand recipe invites you to make a wonderful and all-vegetable “bolognese” for 2 people. For this you need: [3]
- spelled spaghetti
- 44 g textured soy protein (small size)
- 1 carrot
- 1 stalk celery
- 1 zucchini (depending on the season)
- 1 onion
- 10 cl red wine
- 40 cl vegetable stock
- 1 tied bouquet garni (thyme, bay leaf)
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt pepper
Recipe : Rehydrate the soy protein in a bowl in hot water for about 15 minutes. Drop them off. Meanwhile, peel the carrot, onion, celery and zucchini. Brown the vegetables in a pan with olive oil. Add the textured soy protein and increase the heat to brown everything. Then pour in the red wine and let it evaporate. Add the vegetable stock, bouquet garni and tomato paste and mix. Season with salt and pepper and simmer over low heat for 40 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook your spaghetti in salted boiling water. Drop them off. Pour your bolognese sauce into the pasta pan and mix. Your dish is ready! To enhance it, you can drizzle with parmesan-style faux-mage (recipe here).
Pasta with mushroom sauce
Fancy a creamy pasta dish? Let yourself be tempted by this pasta with mushroom sauce and white wine sauce, thanks to the recipe from Free The Pickle. All without fresh cream, replaced here by soy cream. To taste this vegetable dish with sweet forest flavors, you need a few ingredients (for about 6 people):
- 240ml water
- 1 vegetable stock cube
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 yellow onion
- 300 g mushrooms (mushrooms de paris or mix paris, oyster mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms)
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 pinch dried thyme
- 60 ml white wine
- 1 tablespoon mustard
- 1 tablespoon tamari soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon malted yeast
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons soy cream
- Salt pepper
Recipe : Bring the water to the boil in a pan and add the stock cube. When it’s dissolved, turn off the heat, let it cool, and set it aside. Clean your mushrooms and cut them into strips. Cut the onion into cubes. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Fry the onion for about 5 minutes and then add the mushrooms. Add the garlic and thyme and cook for another ten minutes. Add the white wine, mustard, soy sauce and malt yeast and stir. Let everything boil until the liquid is completely evaporated/absorbed. Dilute the cornflour in the vegetable stock and pour this mixture into the pan. Adjust the heat to bring the sauce to a gentle boil and stir frequently. After 5-10 minutes it should thicken. Turn off the heat, add the soy cream and mix. Adjust the spices if necessary. Your sauce is ready and waiting for one thing: accompany the pasta of your choice.
Vegan pasta with “Alfredo” sauce
Of Italian origin, Alfredo sauce is traditionally prepared with many dairy products (parmesan, butter, other cheeses, etc.). If you stop consuming these foods, there’s good news for you: this sauce can be easily reproduced in a plant-based version. Gourmet, this vegan sauce is just as delicious as the original, but a little healthier. So why deprive yourself of it? To try this version of Alfredo sauce you will need (serves about 4 people): [5]
- 100 ml vegetable cream
- 300 ml vegetable stock
- 1 clove of garlic
- 2 tablespoons malted yeast
- 20 g cornflour
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 200 g boiled cauliflower
- Salt pepper
- 1 teaspoon margarine (cooking)
- 400 g cooked pasta with durum wheat semolina
Recipe : Cut the garlic clove into slices. Fry the garlic with the margarine in a frying pan over medium heat for about 3 minutes. Place the garlic and the rest of the ingredients in a bowl suitable for use with an immersion blender. Mix everything. Pour the resulting liquid into the pan and thicken the sauce over medium heat. Stir regularly with a wooden spoon. Once the desired consistency is reached, pour the sauce over the cooked pasta and mix. You can then serve your plates and sprinkle with chopped herbs or parmesan-like faux-mage.
Thanks to these recipes, you can continue to devour your favorite pasta dishes, without using animal products. It’s worth clashing with the Italians or Italians around you, isn’t it?