15 minute Veggie Carbonara

15 minute vegan carbonara – creamy & ‘bacony’

This has gotta be the world’s most creamy, cheesy, smoky, ‘bacony’ vegan carbonara. At 15 minutes it’s probably the quickest as well.

Servings: 2 servings

INGREDIENTS

80-100 g uncooked pasta

1 medium onion – broadly chopped

2 tsp chopped/crushed garlic

1 big handful of mushrooms (ideally Shiitake) – broadly chopped

1 handful courgette – chopped into matchsticks

parsley to garnish (optional) – dried or fresh chopped

vegan parmesan

Carbonara Sauce

50 g raw cashews

200 ml unsweetened non-dairy milk – I used soya milk

Good pinch of salt

Good pinch of black pepper

1-2 Tbsp liquid smoke – 1 Tbsp will be mild

For the cheesey flavour – either

1 heaped Tbsp dairy-free cheese flavour sauce mix

3 heaped Tbsp nutritional yeast

50g dairy-free cheese

METHOD

  1. Put the cashews in a bowl and cover with boiling water for 10 minutes (don’t worry if it’s longer) then drain.

  2. Add pasta to a saucepan along with a dash of oil and a pinch of salt. Add boiling water and cook according to packet instructions. Usually around 10 mins

  3. Add all of the carbonara sauce ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth and creamy.

  4. Heat around 2 Tbsp of oil in a frying pan, med-high heat.

  5. Add the onion and garlic and fry for 2 minutes, tossing continuously until soft.

  6. Add the mushroom and courgette to the frying pan and fry for a further 2 minutes, tossing continuously until the mushrooms have softened a little. Then turn the heat to low.

  7. Drain the pasta and add it to the frying pan along with the carbonara sauce over low heat. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring continuously. You’re just trying to heat up the sauce but it will thicken a little.

  8. If the sauce thickens too much, add a little non-dairy milk to your blender jar and swirl to mix with the sauce residue. Add a little to the frying pan and stir in.

  9. Transfer you’re amazing carbonara into a bowl or plate

  10. Optional: Sprinkle with vegan Parmesan (here’s my 2 minute recipe) and parsley.

Notes

The dairy-free cheese flavour sauce mix will give the strongest cheese flavour.

Try baking shiitake (see potato soup recipe)