Bethany's Vegan Kitchen

Spaghetti and mushrooms stirred through a creamy vegan carbonara sauce. This rich, filling pasta dish doesn’t skimp on flavour, yet contains only 350kcal per serving. I don’t believe I’ve mentioned this here, but I’m on a weight loss journey. I’ve lost eight stone gone so far (112lbs/50kg) and I’ve done it in part by making low calorie swaps such as this. Ditching regular cream for a tofu based cream cuts out fat and therefore calories, allowing you to still enjoy food you love, and lose weight too. That’s enough rambling, let’s move on to the recipe!

Yield; Two servings (350kcal per serving) Cook time; 20 minutes

You’ll need;

1. 350g/12oz block of silken tofu (I use the tofu by Yutaka)
2. 200ml unsweetened plant milk
3. One teaspoon of oil
4. Two cloves of garlic, minced
5. 180g/6oz white mushrooms, thinly sliced
6. Half a teaspoon of dried parsley
7. Half a teaspoon of dijon mustard
8. 15g/0.5oz vegan parmesan, grated (I used Prosociano by Violife)
9. One quarter of a teaspoon of liquid smoke (you can buy this online from Amazon)
10. Salt and black pepper to taste
11. 140g/5oz spaghetti

Method;

• Use a blender to blend the tofu and milk into a thick cream. Once smooth reserve 150ml then store the rest in an air-tight container in the fridge. It can be used in sauces, curry, soups or casseroles
• In a large frying pan over a medium heat, add the oil and garlic. Fry for one minute before adding the mushrooms, tofu cream, parsley, mustard, liquid smoke and cheese. Seasons to taste with salt and pepper, then cover with a lid and allow to cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. The mushrooms will release liquid which will thin down the sauce to the perfect consistency
• While the sauce cooks, boil the pasta as per the instructions on the packet. Once cooked, drain and add the pasta to the sauce
• Stir the pasta through the sauce to combine, then spoon into dishes and serve. You could choose to swap the mushroom for meat free bacon if preferred

If you’d like to know more about my weight loss journey, I talk about it more over on Instagram. So click → HERE ←to go there