Creamy vegan pasta with smoky tempeh

August 18, 2022

   

This week I pulled a pasta recipe up from way back in my archives - Dr Ricki published it in 2010 back when her blog was called 'Diet, Dessert & Dogs'. Her recipes focused primarily on the anti-candida diet, and this was her adaptation of carbonara. You can see that I'm holding back on that name: carbonara is a dish that is wrapped up in tradition, nostalgia, and opinions around 'authenticity'. Dr Ricki composed something that was accessible and nostalgic for her, and with a couple of adjustments it's now become an enjoyable meal for me, too.

This recipe combines two styles of vegan cooking that I'm already familiar with. The creamy sauce sits easily alongside the ones I make for macaroni and fettuccine, flavoured with cashews, tahini, miso and mustard. This one is coloured with a little turmeric, and I probably won't do that again as I think its subtle flavour still managed to overwhelm the nutmeg.

Meanwhile, the tempeh is flavoured with tamari, sweetener (no stevia for me!) and liquid smoke as I know well from other vegan 'bacon' recipes. The interesting trick here is that instead of being marinated, the tempeh is braised in a more watery version of the liquid, with excellent (if not bacony) results.

Preparation calls for three pots on the go, and my timing meant that I had to call on Michael to drain the pasta and mix in the peas while I was carefully stirring the sauce. I'm sure I can refine the scheduling and manage it on my own in future. I served the tempeh plate by plate, expecting it to colour the sauce brown, and forgot my parsley the first time around (it went double on the leftovers!). This was a really nice variation on a couple of old favourite foods, and likely to stick around in our dinner rotation.

Creamy vegan pasta with smoky tempeh

(slightly adapted from a recipe by Dr Ricki)

braised tempeh

225g packet tempeh

3 tablespoons tamari

juice of 1 small lemon, topped up with water to make 1/3 cup liquid

1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon golden syrup 

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup water

creamy pasta

500g pasta

3/4 cup peas, fresh or frozen

2 tablespoons smooth cashew butter

1 tablespoon white miso

1 tablespoon tahini

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon turmeric (for colour, optional)

pinch of nutmeg

salt and pepper, to taste

1 cup soy or almond milk

1 cup vege stock

1 tablespoons arrowroot or potato starch

3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Fill a large saucepan with water and bring it to the boil for the pasta. 

Slice the tempeh into bite-sized pieces. Place all of the braising ingredients in a medium-sized frypan, whisking with a fork to combine. Add the tempeh pieces and swish them around to coat them in the liquid. Set the frypan over medium heat and cook the tempeh, flipping them occasionally, until most of the liquid has evaporated; this will probably take 15-25 minutes.

When the saucepan of water is ready, add the pasta and cook it according to its directions. When it's finished cooking, drain the pasta, return it to its saucepan, and stir through the peas. Even if the peas are frozen, this should be enough heat to defrost them.

While the tempeh and the pasta are both cooking, get to work on the sauce. In a small-medium saucepan, stir together the cashew butter, miso, tahini, mustard, garlic, turmeric, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Gradually whisk in the milk and stock to make a smooth sauce. Whisk in the arrowroot. Set the sauce over medium heat and stir continuously until thickened, about 10 minutes. Pour the sauce over the cooked pasta and peas, and stir to combine. When the tempeh is ready, gently fold that through the mixture, too. Serve garnished with fresh parsley.