The Vegan Pasta Cookbook: Deliciously Indulgent Plant-Based Versions of Italian Classics, Asian Noodles, Mac & Cheese, and More

By Rebecca Hincke

Discover Endless Pasta-bilities for Every Night of the Week

Whether you seek simple yet delicious dinner ideas, vegan versions of your favorite noodle dishes or easy meals that increase your veggie intake, blogger Rebecca Hincke has a pasta for you. In this comprehensive collection, she shares 60 irresistible recipes—from time-honored Italian fare and Asian-inspired stir-fries to nourishing noodle soups, plant-powered pasta salads and more.

Enjoy comforting classics like Creamy Stovetop Mac & Cheese, soothing Vegan Chicken Noodle Soup and hearty Spaghetti and Vegan Meatballs. Need a mouthwatering weeknight meal that comes together in no time? Try Garlic & Chili Oil Noodles or Linguine al Limone with Toasted Pistachios—both are as quick and easy to make as they are tasty and filling to eat. Rebecca also serves up unique fusion meals: enter Spicy Kimchi Mac, Miso Garlic Butter Pasta and Summer Roll Noodle Salad, to name a few. Plus, you’ll learn to make versatile plant-based staples such as Almond Parm, Vegan Fish Sauce and Coconut Bacon from scratch, so you can take every pasta and noodle dish to the next level.

Armed with this creative cookbook, you’ll be ready to make every night pasta night!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
• Release date: Jul 26, 2022
• ISBN: 9781645676010

Book preview

Pasta Italiana

Italian food has always been close to my heart, even though I didn’t grow up eating the most traditional dishes. On my mom’s side, my nonno (grandpa) was from Italy and my vovó is from Brazil, so my childhood and the years beyond were filled with the most delicious food. It was often a hybrid of Italian and Brazilian recipes, though in my extended Italian family, there were countless weddings, christenings, first communions—so many of all of them—each one filled with food, glorious (Italian) food!

I’ve visited Italy twice: Rome the first time, and the second time to Genoa and Varazze on the Ligurian coast. Both times, the memories of eating authentic Italian food have stayed with me. Creamy gelato, wood-fired pizzas, freshly baked focaccia, but the pasta was the thing for me. The pasta—whether store-bought or handmade—was *chef’s kiss* bellissima, and the sauces were so fresh and so simple, yet bursting with flavor. Sometimes all it takes is a handful of good quality ingredients to create the most perfect pasta.

While oil- or tomato-based dishes are easiest to make fully vegan, creamy sauces and dishes that traditionally use Parmigiano or Pecorino require a more creative approach. You’ll see my Almond Parm featured frequently throughout this chapter—often within recipes and ALWAYS as a suggested garnish—as well as ingredients like cashews and silken tofu as dairy-free alternatives to cream, cheese, and eggs; crispy bacon made from coconut flakes; and plant-based sausages used to make Italian-style meatballs. It’s been a joy to experiment with recipes I’ve loved since childhood, to discover dishes I’d never tried before, and to create vegan pasta so good that it can rival the real thing!

This chapter has it all: traditional Italian dishes made plant-based, like Classic Vegan Bolognese, Pesto alla Genovese, and Spaghetti Aglio, Olio, & Peperoncino; vegan versions of Italian-American classics, such as Spaghetti & Vegan Meatballs and Roasted Garlic Fettuccine Alfredo; and, of course, my own food fusions, like Puttanesca all’Arrabbiata and Three-Cheese Lasagna alla Bolognese. So, without further ado, get cooking, and BUON APPETITO!

CLASSIC VEGAN BOLOGNESE

Serves 6

In my family, we called Bolognese meat sauce, and I’d never even heard the term Spag Bol until I moved to England! Over the years, I’ve adapted and perfected my plant-based version of this classic pasta sauce to create a dish that’s somewhere in between traditional Bolognese (minus the meat, of course) and the more simplified sauce my mom used to make. Bolognese is traditionally eaten with tagliatelle, or other wide, flat noodles, so I’ve paired this rich sauce with pappardelle, but it will taste just as great with the pasta of your choice!

3 tbsp (45 ml) olive oil

2 medium onions, finely diced

5–6 large cloves garlic, minced

2 medium carrots, finely diced

2 ribs celery, finely diced

2 tbsp (7 g) Italian seasoning (or 1½ tsp [5 g] each dried basil, parsley, oregano, and sage)

12 oz (340 g) fresh or frozen vegan ground beef

½ cup (120 ml) vegan red or white wine

2 tbsp (32 g) tomato paste

2 tbsp (30 ml) tamari or soy sauce

1 (28-oz [794-g]) can crushed or chopped