Vegan Spaghetti Carbonara

This plant based carbonara is just as creamy and meaty as the non-vegan version. For the “meat” aspect of this dish, I chose to go with meat free gammon by Vbites, but any smoked mock meat will work. Alternatively you could substitute this with smoked tofu, if mock meat isn’t for you. For the cheese, I went with the grated hard Italian style cheese by ASDA, but others are available

I’m English, not Italian. So this is obviously not a traditional recipe, but they say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, so hopefully this won’t cause outrage. Just like I don’t become incensed when someone puts carrots in a Cornish pasty, or makes a Shepherd’s pie that differs from ones I’ve eaten. Enough rambling, onto the recipe

Yield; Three servings Cook time; 15 minutes

You’ll need;

One teaspoon of oil
One teaspoon of non-dairy margarine
Three cloves of garlic, minced
180g/6oz mock meat, I used Vbites “gammon” diced
200ml dairy free cream, I used 200ml tofu cream which is one 300-350g block of silken tofu blended with between 200-250ml unsweetened plant milk. Store the rest of the tofu cream in the fridge and use in sauces, curries or soups
Half a teaspoon of dried parsley
Half a teaspoon of dijon mustard
30g/1oz dairy free parmesan, I used ASDA’s dairy free parmesan
200g/7oz (dry weight) spaghetti
Salt and pepper to taste

Method;

Add the oil and margarine into a frying pan over a medium heat. Pop the garlic in and allow it to cook for a couple of minutes. While you’re working on the sauce, boil the pasta as per the instructions on the packet
Then add the mock meat and give it five minutes to cook, stirring often
Next, add in the cream. Depending on what cream you use, you may want to thin it down with a little water or stock. My tofu cream had more of a double cream consistency, so I thinned it down with 100ml vegetable stock
Stir the parsley, mustard and cheese through the sauce. I seasoned with a tiny pinch of salt, and plenty of cracked black pepper
Once the pasta is done, it’s ready to be drained and stirred through the sauce. Stir well the coat the pasta, then serve