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Vegan Pasta Primavera

This Vegan Pasta Primavera has a wealth of fresh green veggies and a light plant-based cream sauce. It’s both nourishing and refreshing. A touch of lemon and plenty of fresh herbs make it really pop.
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: American, Italian
Servings: 4
Author: Thomas

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces pasta of your choice (230 grams) - see note
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 8 ounces white mushrooms sliced (230 grams)
  • 8 ounces zucchini sliced (230 grams)
  • 4 ounces snow peas (115 grams)

Vegetables to blanch

  • 1/2 cup fresh green peas can use frozen - see note
  • 4 ounces broccolini or broccoli, sliced (115 grams)
  • 6 ounces asparagus trimmed and cut to bite-size (180 grams) - see note

Sauce

  • 12 ounces silken soft tofu drained (340 grams)
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
  • 1/4 cup unflavored unsweetened almond milk or other neutral plant milk
  • 1 Tablespoon white miso see note
  • 1 Tablespoon sauerkraut brine (optional - see note)

Garnishes

  • Fresh parsley chopped
  • Fresh basil chopped
  • Fresh lemon wedges
  • Salt to taste
  • Black pepper to taste
  • Nutritional yeast to taste

Instructions

Blanch the vegetables

  • Bring a large pot of salted water to a vigorous boil over high heat. Add the green peas, broccolini, and asparagus. Blanch until 70% cooked, about 1.5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon or mesh strainer to remove the vegetables from the water, saving the water in the pot to boil the pasta. Rinse the vegetables in cool tap water to stop the cooking process.

Boil the pasta

  • Return the pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and give it a stir. Cook for 1 minute less than the package instructs for al dente (for example, the linguine I cooked said 10 minutes for al dente, I boiled it for 9 minutes). Drain the pasta when finished, saving 1 cup of the boiling liquid for later.

Blend the sauce ingredients.

  • Combine all the ingredients for the sauce in a blender. Blend on high until smooth, about 30 seconds. Alternatively, you can whisk them together in a large bowl.

Saute the rest of the vegetables

  • Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and stir for 1 minute. Add the mushrooms. Cook and stir the mushrooms until about half cooked, 3-4 minutes. Add the zucchini and snow peas, continuing to stir occasionally for the next 3 minutes.

Cook the sauce and combine everything

  • Pour the blended sauce mixture into the skillet and stir for 1 minute. Add the pasta and blanched vegetables and stir again. Bring to a gentle simmer, then reduce to medium-low heat. Try a piece of pasta - if it is cooked to your liking, the dish is ready to serve. If not, cover and cook for 2 minutes and try another piece. If the sauce becomes too thick, thin it out by stirring 1-2 tablespoons of the pasta boiling liquid into it.

Serve

  • Serve hot and garnish generously with chopped basil and parsley, lemon juice, and nutritional yeast as desired. Add salt and black pepper to taste.

Notes

I used linguine but any kind of long or short pasta will work.
If using frozen peas, you don’t need to blanch them. You can just add them when you add the sauce mixture into the skillet.
You can approximate the measurements on the vegetables.
The weight of the asparagus is after trimming the tough ends off.
The miso I used was a relatively salty Japanese-made one. If you’re using a milder US-made one, you can use 1.5 times the recommended amount.
You can substitute an extra half-tablespoon of miso if you don’t have sauerkraut brine on hand.