Meaty Roasted Red Pepper Pasta (Savory Meal Plan 1)
From: Ian Seddon's Cookbook
🥘 Ingredients
- Roasted Red Pepper Sauce 1.12 cup
- medium-sized ridged pasta 12 oz
- Kosher
- cremini or white button mushrooms 4 ½ oz
- Oven Toasted Walnuts 18 tbsp
- Walnut Spices 4 ¼ tsp
- soy sauce or tamari 2 tsp
- extra virgin olive oil 1 tbsp
- nutritional yeast 2 tbsp
- medium lemon 1
- capers 3 tbsp
- flat-leaf parsley or fresh basil 1 cup
- Freshly
For heartier appetites, use 16 oz of pasta; there will be enough sauce to coat this much. Add more nutritional yeast, salt, and lemon juice to taste. Storage: Store the pasta and “meat” separately in the fridge in airtight containers for 3 days (or store the assembled pasta the same way). Reheat in a saucepan, adding a drizzle of oil to bring it together. Toss the “meat” with the pasta, or to re-crisp it, add to a nonstick pan over medium heat with a touch of oil, tossing frequently until a bit crispy. Finish with olive oil and chopped parsley/basil if you have any. Nutrition boost: Use whole wheat pasta or your favorite “protein pasta” (I like this one). For added protein, fold in some drained and rinsed white beans (or chickpeas) when tossing everything in step 6, adding more salt/pepper and lemon juice to season. For more veggies, fold in some chopped baby kale or spinach in step 6, and/or top the pasta with sliced cherry tomatoes. Shortcut: If you bought vegan sausage instead of making the Walnut-Mushroom Meat, skip steps 3 and 4. Crumble or slice the sausage and cook in a nonstick frying pan with a touch of oil for 4 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned and a bit crisp. Shortcut: Skip the lemon zest, capers, and parsley in step 6 to shave off a few minutes.
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1Gather: Roasted Red Pepper Sauce , medium-sized ridged pasta , Kosher salt or sea salt. For the walnut-mushroom meat: cremini or white button mushrooms , Oven Toasted Walnuts , Walnut Spices , soy sauce or tamari , extra virgin olive oil , nutritional yeast , medium lemon , capers , flat-leaf parsley or fresh basil , Freshly cracked black pepper.
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2Take the Roasted Red Pepper Sauce out of the fridge. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil for the pasta. While the water comes to a boil, prepare your side salad (if you’re making one).
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3Cook the pasta. Once the water is boiling, salt it generously. Add the pasta. Cook for the minimum time listed on the box for al dente. Before draining, reserve timer cup of pasta water ( timer ladle). Drain the pasta, but do not rinse it. Keep the pot handy.
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4Prep the Walnut-Mushroom Meat. Dab the mushrooms with a paper towel or dry cloth to remove any dirt patches, then roughly chop them. Add the Toasted Walnuts to a food processor and pulse just until finely chopped (don’t blend into a paste). Add the chopped mushrooms, Walnut Spices, and soy sauce. Blend a few times, followed by several quick pulses, until finely chopped but not smooth like pâté.
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5Fry the Walnut-Mushroom Meat. Heat a 12-inch (30 cm) nonstick frying pan over medium to medium-high heat with the olive oil. Once hot, add the “meat.” Cook for 6-8 minutes , stirring occasionally, until slightly crisp and browned in spots (if it starts to burn, lower the heat). Remove from the heat; set aside.
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6Pour the Roasted Red Pepper Sauce into the pot used for the pasta. Add the hot cooked pasta and nutritional yeast. Toss to combine. Over medium-high heat, toss vigorously with tongs until the pasta is well coated and al dente, 1 to 2 minutes. If needed, add 1/2 cup of pasta water to bring the sauce together, adding more as needed.
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7Off the heat, stir in half of the lemon zest, 1 tbsp of lemon juice, capers, chopped parsley, and a few cracks of pepper. Taste, adding more lemon zest or juice and salt/pepper as desired.
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8Divide the pasta between bowls, then top each bowl with some of the cooked Walnut-Mushroom Meat. For a little richness, drizzle each bowl with extra virgin olive oil. Serve with your side salad, if you made one.