FRAN’S UNBEATABLE VEGAN CARBONARA: QUICK AND DELICIOUS!
For 2-3 people
Only takes about 30 min!

300 gr pasta – I used linguine, which is a long one and holds the sauce better

Base:

½ of a big onion
1-2 garlic cloves
70 gr sun-dried tomatoes or zucchini
1 tbs. soya sauce
1 teaspoon of paprika (smoked for a meaty flavor)

Sauce:

150 gr cashews
250 ml water
1 tbs lemon juice
2 tbs nutritional yeast (optional)
Some salt
Some garlic powder
Some turmeric (gives the typical yellow color)
Some nutmeg
Whatever spice you’d like to put

Start with soaking the cashews in hot water for about 15 min.
Cut the sun-dried tomatoes (stronger flavor) or zucchini (more of a delicate flavor) in fine slices and marinade them with the soya sauce and paprika. Put aside for 15 min for them to absorb the soya and paprika.
Finely chop onion and garlic and let them fry in a large pan or wok. When the onion is golden/brown, add the sun-dried tomatoes/zucchini and let fry on low heat.
In the meantime boil the water for your pasta, add salt, then the pasta.
Sauce time! Put all the ingredients for the sauce in a blender and mix until smooth. You can adjust salt and spices afterwards if you think the flavor is lacking.
Time to add your sauce to the pan! Let it mix with the vegetables and cook at medium heat for
about 2-3 minutes.
Now your pasta should be ready. Put aside some of the pasta water, then drain. Do not wash the
pasta or you’ll wash away the gluten with it!
Add some pasta water to the sauce mixture to prevent it from getting too thick. Add the drained pasta to the pan and mix well with the sauce. If you want it creamier, add some more pasta water.
Sprinkle some black pepper on it before serving if you like (pepper is love, pepper is life)
Enjoy this vegan bonanza!

This recipe is very easy, student and budget-friendly. It costs around 700 ISK per serving (2-3 people). It can be hard to quantify the cost of spices, but they last for quite a long time. You can think of it as an investment for future recipes! I really recommend you get yourself some nutmeg, it tastes simply amazing and it’s perfect for creamy sauces.

The Vegan Recipe Corner