It’s so nice to have a couple nights off! There’s nothing like being home and cooking dinner in my own kitchen. Tonight I wanted pasta but have overdosed on marinara so I wanted to do something a bit different. Then I remembered that we really enjoyed Giada’s pasta primavera recipe and decided that would be perfect for a weeknight.
I actually didn’t set out to make a vegan meal tonight. I was planning to add the loads of parmesan cheese that usually goes into this dish. But then I realized we were out of parm. Then I remembered that I had plenty of nooch!
For those of you normal human beings out there who aren’t health nuts, nutritional yeast (nicknamed “nooch”) is a natural food product made from dried yeast. It’s a great source of vitamins and protein, and it has a delicious cheesy flavor that makes it very popular as a cheese substitute in vegan and vegetarian cooking. I’m kind of in love with the stuff and need to remember to use it more often.
The nutritional yeast worked BEAUTIFULLY in this pasta. It came out even better than I expected! Jason gobbled up multiple helpings, and I didn’t miss the cheese one bit (which is saying something because I LOVE cheese).
Vegan Pasta Primavera
by
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Keywords: entree vegan vegetarian Italian
Ingredients (serves 4)
- 1 large zucchini
- 3 carrots
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 orange or yellow bell pepper
- 2 medium yellow onions
- 3 T. olive oil
- 2 t. italian seasoning
- 2 t. garlic powder
- 1 t. salt
- 1 lb. pasta (farfalle is the traditional one to use)
- 3 T. nutritional yeast flakes
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- 1 T. fresh basil leaves
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375.
Peel the carrots and onions and thinly slice them along with the zucchini and bell peppers.
Divide the sliced vegetables between two cookie sheets. Put 1 T. of olive oil, 1 t. italian seasoning, and 1 t. garlic powder on top of the vegetables on each sheet. Toss to coat the vegetables.
Roast the vegetables in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes, stirring once halfway through. You want the vegetables to be tender and just starting to brown around the edges.
While the vegetables are cooking, heat a large pot of salted water to a boil.
When the vegetables are done roasting, remove them from the oven and set aside.
Cook the pasta according to package directions.
While the pasta is cooking, slice each of the cherry tomatoes in half and chiffonade(roll up and very thinly slice) the basil. Set aside.
Before you drain the pasta, spoon out 3 T. of the hot pasta water into a small bowl. Stir the nutritional yeast into that hot water and set aside (this is your “cheese” sauce).
Drain pasta and return it to the empty pot it cooked in.
Add the roasted vegetables, cherry tomatoes, basil, remaining 1 T. olive oil, “cheese” sauce, and salt to the pasta in the pot.
Stir well to combine. Sprinkle with additional chopped basil and nutritional yeast if desired. Serve immediately.
The great thing about a pasta dish like this is that you can substitute whatever vegetables you like. Summer (yellow) squash is a common ingredient in pasta primavera, and you can also add vegetables like broccoli and mushrooms or whatever happens to be seasonal. Keep the onions and peppers though! When they are roasted they provide incredible flavor. I’m actually excited to eat this for leftovers.
Thanks for reading!
-Lauren