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
Put the cashews in a bowl and cover with boiling water for 10 minutes (don’t worry if it’s longer) then drain.
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
Add all of the carbonara sauce ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth and creamy.
Heat around 2 Tbsp of oil in a frying pan, med-high heat.
Add the onion and garlic and fry for 2 minutes, tossing continuously until soft.
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.
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.
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.
Transfer you’re amazing carbonara into a bowl or plate
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)