A creamy mushroom pasta is like eating a big warm hug. It’s so comforting and rich and delicious. But it often makes me feel a bit sick if I have the actual creamy version. This vegan version contains no dairy at all, and still has that creamy texture and intense mushroom flavour you’re looking for. It can also be ready oh so quickly.

The creaminess is coming from chickpea flour, because that stuff is amazing. It adds a creaminess without having that raw flour taste you can end up getting when you add flour to a sauce to thicken it. The slight nuttiness of it’s flavour also adds a little richness. It’s perfect with the mushrooms.

You can use any mushrooms you like in this dish, I think a mix of porcini and cup mushrooms works really well. But if it’s easier for you to just buy cup then do that. The flavour of this pasta is really all about the mushroom as there are very few ingredients in the sauce so make sure you’re using fresh, delicious mushrooms.

I highly recommend reading through the recipe carefully before you start. It’s very easy but you are moving things in and out of the same pan at different stages and as you’re using the liquid the mushrooms release while cooking to make the sauce you don’t want to forget to pour this out of the pan before it evaporates. If you do this, just add more warm water to the mushroom pan and cook for a few minutes so they release some flavour into the water before decanting that. Or use stock instead.

If you’re not vegan you could add parmesan to finish but it’s not a necessity! Nutritional yeast could be a good vegan substitute for this too.

Also, don’t forget to check out my Instagram to see where in the world I’m hanging this week!

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 Tbs olive oil

400 g Mushrooms, finely slices

1/2 cup finely shopped parsley (plus extra to serve)

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/8 tsp salt (or same amount of vegetable stock powder/salt like Herbamare)

1 heaped Tbs chickpea flour (other flours could work this just gives a really creamy result)

150g fettucini (use gluten free if you want to keep the whole recipe gluten free

Directions

Cook pasta according to packet directions. Reserve 1 cup of cooking liquid before draining.

Place a medium sized pan on low-medium heat and add the olive oil. Once hot add the mushrooms, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper. Gently saute for a few minutes until softened. At this point your mushrooms should have released quite a bit of liquid. Drain it from the pan into a jug or bowl, set aside. If you get lots more liquid do this again. You should have at least 1/2 a cup.

Turn the heat down to low and continue to gently cook the mushrooms. You will be cooking them for approximately 10 minutes in total. You want them to just have a little colour and be very soft. If this happens before the pasta is ready then just set them aside.

Meanwhile, sift the chickpea flour into the warm mushroom cooking liquid and whisk to combine. It should thicken the liquid slightly. Once the pasta is cooked add the mushroom liquid back to your pan of mushrooms and turn the heat back to low (if you’ve turned it off). Stir gently to combine and add 1/2 a cup of reserved pasta water. It should be the creamy and thick enough to just coat the back of the spoon. If it’s too thin you can cook for a couple of minutes and it will thicken up. Turn of the heat.

Toss the pasta in the sauce, if it is too dry just add a little at a time of your remaining pasta water. Season to taste with extra pepper and salt and serve sprinkled with parsley.

HH. x