Roasted Red Pepper Pasta (Vegan)

This creamy and spicy roasted pepper pasta are the ideal option on those busy evenings when time isn’t precisely your friend. With some basic organisational skills, this dish is ready in less than 1 hour. While the water boils, the peppers are being roasted and while the pasta is being cooked, the sauce simmers on the stove. I find that pipe rigate are the perfect option for this type of sauce. Once mixed with the sauce, this type of pasta captures the creamy sauce and you get to enjoy that decadent sauce with every bite. Simply amazing…

Ingredients (for 4 servings):

for the sauce:

  • 2 large red bell peppers
  • 360ml almond milk
  • 1 medium red onion
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 3 Tbsp active dry yeast
  • 1 ½ tsp corn starch
  • 1 ‘bird’s eye’ dried chili
  • salt and pepper to taste

for serving:

  • 350g dry pipe rigate
  • fresh basil leaves
  • active dry yeast

Method:

  1. Pasta. Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package. Drain them using a colander and cool them under cold tap water. Drain them very well and place them in a large bowl.
  2. Roast the peppers. While the water boils, take a metal disk, place it on the stove and roast the peppers on each side. Place the roasted pepper in a small saucepan and cover with a lid. Proceed the same with the second pepper.
  3. Peel the peppers. Carefully peel each pepper. Remove the stem and the seeds, give them a quick wash and pat them dry with a paper towel.
  4. Onion and garlic. Peel the onion and slice it carefully. Peel the garlic.
  5. Prepare the sauce. Place the milk, onion, garlic and chili in the bowl of a blender. Mix until smooth. Add the peppers, olive oil, corn starch, and dry nutritional yeast and blend until smooth and creamy.
  6. Cook the sauce. Add the sauce to a medium saucepan and simmer it over low-medium heat until thick (for about 7 minutes).
  7. Serve. Add the sauce to the pasta and mix well. Serve in large bowls and garnish with basil ribbons and nutritional yeast.

Source: www.minimalistbaker.com


 

Pasta e Fagioli (Vegan)



This Italian-inspired dish is so delicious and extremely easy to make. Basically, we are speaking about some small pasta cooked in a basil-flavored tomato broth, together with buttery cannellini beans, carrots, celery and onion. With some organisatory work done ahead this no fussn dish takes no longer than 30 minutes. Those vegetables I’ve mentioned above combine together in a genuine taste symphony, creating an absolutely delicious dish which is also heart and packed with nutrients. If I’d have to place it in a category I’d say it stays somewhere between a soup and a stew. I love my pasta e fagioli on the thick side but if a soupier dish is your cup of tea, please feel free to add more liquid.

Ingredients:

  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 2 medium onions (200g, chopped)
  • 2 large carrots (200g, chopped)
  • 3 celery stalks (150g, chopped)
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 10 basil leaves
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 can of crushed tomatoes
  • 4 – 5 cups of vegetable broth
  • 2 cans cooked cannellini beans (500g)
  • 1 cup dried small pasta (120g)
  • salt and pepper to taste

Method:

  1. Broth. I heated the vegetable broth over high heat. If you use room temperature broth, it would take longer for the soup to reach boiling point.
  2. Vegetables. Peel the onions, carrots and garlic cloves. Chop the onions, celery and carrot. Finely chop the garlic and basil.
  3. Sautee the vegetables. In a large saucepan heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and sautee them until translucent. Add the garlic and continue cooking until fragrant (about 1 minute). Add the carrot and the celery and sautee for further 3 minutes.
  4. The liquid. Add the chopped basil and bay leaves. Add the crushed tomatoes and about 4 cups of hot soup. Cover the saucepan and bring it to a simmer. Lower the heat to medium and cook the soup for 15 minutes. Add the cannellini beans and cook for further 10 minutes.
  5. Pasta. Finally add dry pasta and cook it until tender (about 10 minutes). Season with salt and pepper and serve in large bowl with olive oil drizzled on top.

Source: www.themostlyvegan.com

Homemade Noodles with Sauteed Cabbage (Vegan)

My heart fills with joy when I remember my grandmother’s recipe of cabbage noodles, those fragrant and peppery noddles she used to make for me every Friday afternoon. I used to barge into the kitchen, throwing my backpack on the old, wooden armchair and she used to greet me with a warm smile and a simple bowl of cabbage noodles. That’s all I’ve ever needed, for that matter!

For these delicious noodles with sauteed cabbage you only need about a handful of budget-friendly ingredients and a spare 20 minutes. If you decide to make the noodles from scratch, it shouldn’t take more than 1 hour. For this recipe I used my pasta machine but a simple rolling pin and a sharp knife did the job brilliantly for years (and the proof lays here). Whenever I make them plant-based, I replace the eggs with olive oil and lukewarm water. Since I can’t say I find pale noodles appealing, I add a pinch of turmenic to the flour, which gives the noodles a lovely golden color. So let’s get to work!

Ingredients (for 4 servings):

for the pasta:

  • 300g all purpose flour
  • about 160ml liquid (115ml water + 45ml olive oil)
  • 1 + 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp turmenic

 

for the sauteed cabbage:

  • 1/2 kg white cabbage
  • 1/2 Tbsp salt
  • 3 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 medium onion
  • 1 tsp pepper

 

 

Method:

  1. Pasta dough. In a large bowl sift the flour. Add salt and turmenic and mix well.
  2. Make a well in the center, add water and olive oil and mix with a fork, until you form a ball of dough.
  3. Bring the dough on a floured working surface and knead it vigorously for 10 minutes, or until the surface becomes smooth and elastic.
  4. Wrap it in cling film and let it rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
  5. Sauteed cabbage. Take the cabbage and discard its outer leaves. Give it a wash and pat it dry with a paper towel.
  6. Cut it in 4 and chop it finely. Place the cabage ribbons in a colander and place the colander in a large bowl. Sprinkle the salt over the cabage and masaage it for a minute.
  7. Cut the onion in half and slice it finely. Heat 2 Tbsp of oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and saute it until translucent.
  8. Remove the liquid from the cabbage ribbons using your hands. Add the cabbage to the saucepan, give it a stir, cover with a lid and reduce the heat to minimum. Saute the cabbage until tender (for about 15 – 20 minutes). When it becomes tender, season with salt (only if necessary) and plenty of black pepper and leave aside.
  9. Cutting the noodles – If you don’t own a pasta machine, you can use a rolling pin to roll the dough and a sharp knife to cut the noodles, like I did in this recipe. Take the dough out from the fridge, cut it in 4 and form 4 balls of dough. Take 1 ball, flatten it with your fingers and fold it in half. Set your pasta machine to the thickest setting and feed it through the pasta roller. Repeat the step. Change the setting to mark 2. Fold this piece of dough into thirds, and press it with your fingers. Pass it through the pasta machine. Repeat the step. Continue passing the dough through the machine until the desired thickness. For these noodles I like to stop after the 5th mark.
    Recap: fold, mark1x2, fold, mark2x2, mark3x2, mark4x2, mark5x1
  10. Run each sheet of pasta through the pasta cutter.
  11. Take a large pot, fill it with water and add a handful of salt. Cover with a lid and let it boil. When the water starts to boil, put the noodles into the pan and let them cook for about a minute and a half (90 seconds). Drain pasta and rinse them with cold water. Toss them over the sauted cabbage and give it a gentle stir.
  12. Serve immediately.



















Farfalle Caprese

This lovely pasta salad with tomatoes, mozzarella and fresh basil is ready in fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes on the clock! It is hearty, it’s colorful and it’s packed with bold flavors! It’s hands down my favorite salad and I’ve been making it since the Cretaceous period, since I was in the second grade to be more accurate. This salad is perfect for lunch or dinner and it’s also a wonderful dish to bring to a picnic.

For this salad I used mozzarella boconcini and cherry tomatoes picked from my own veggie garden, which I’ve seasoned with fresh basil and homemade balsamic vinegar reduction. For pasta I chose farfalle (penne, fusilli or rigatoni are also delicious in this salad) which I’ve flavored with finely chopped shallot. Although I cannot tolerate onion in traditional Caprese salad, I always add finely chopped shallot in the pasta version. I find that it seasons discretely the pasta, without overpowering the rest of the ingredients. Continue reading Farfalle Caprese

Pasta Salad With Cherry Tomatoes and Snow Peas

Fusilli and cherry tomatoes saladSaladFussili salad

Veggie pasta salad is a wonderful dish. It is a satisfying salad, as well as delicious and it tastes even better the next day. Regarding the ingredients, sky is the limit; you can add in your salad all kinds of veggies, herbs, dairy products or even fruit.

I tried to make my recipe healthier but I still wanted that rich taste, so I made a few changes. I used whole wheat fusilli, juicy cherry tomatoes and fresh snow peas and for the creamy dressing I used Greek yogurt, fresh mint and only 2 tablespoons of homemade mayo. The result was mouth-watering! Continue reading Pasta Salad With Cherry Tomatoes and Snow Peas