PASTA CARBONARA, MY WAY

This recipe was inspired by Vegan Heaven after friends of ours were talking about pasta for dinner. I needed to make something hearty and flavorful. A traditional Italian carbonara dish is made with eggs, cheese and bacon or pancetta. I don’t eat these heavily fatty and salty foods, but I wanted to re-create the flavors and the crispy texture of the bacon for my pasta.

Presto and Ta-Dah! The fennel is the key to marinade, and the cashews add a rich, creaminess to this revised carbonara sauce.

Note: you can substitute any white beans for the cashews if you want to cut out more fat.

Prep time: 10 minutes (excluding cashew soak time)

Cook time: 15-20 minutes

Serves 2-3

Ingredients

8 oz. pasta of your choice (spaghetti noodles are used with traditional carbonara, and you can use GF pasta!)

Tempeh Bacon Marinade

8 oz. tempeh
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. ground fennel
1/2 cup no or low salt ketchup
1 tsp. Liquid Smoke
1 teaspoon smoky paprika powder
1 Tbls. soy sauce or Bragg’s aminos
black pepper to taste

Carbonara Sauce

1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked for at least 3 hours
1 cup unsweetened plant milk: almond, soy, or oat milk
1 Tbls. white miso paste
2 Tbls. nutritional yeast
salt & pepper to taste
1 small garlic clove, minced

Garnish

1 Tbls. fresh parsley, chopped
2 stalks green onions, chopped
1/2 cup chopped black olives

Instructions

Slice the tempeh block into small square pieces.
Make your tempeh bacon by mixing all other marinade ingredients together.
Toss in the tempeh and cover completely with the marinade. Set in fridge while you make the Carbonara sauce.
Place all carbonara sauce ingredients into a high speed blender or food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. You may need to add more liquid in small amounts to reach a real creamy sauce consistency. Adjust the seasonings accordingly.
Cook your pasta according to the package instructions.
Heat a non-stick medium size pan on high heat.
Add the marinated tempeh pieces to the hot pan and cook, stirring occasionally.
The tempeh will begin to brown after several minutes. Be patient. An option is to finish the tempeh bits under the broiler if they don’t get crispy enough for you!
Place your pasta in the middle of a large platter and pour on the creamy carbonara sauce. Top it with the crispy tempeh bacon bits.
Garnish with sliced green onions, parsley and black olives (optional).

Pasta Carbonara

Ingredients

Instructions

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