Homemade pasta with Roasted Garlic, Lemon, and Black Pepper Cream Sauce

I’ve always loved making pasta (well, except for that first time which was a horrible experience which is best forgotten). For years I made all of my own pasta. I did it enough that it was fast an easy. I could make enough pasta from scratch for one person in the time it took to bring a pot of water to a boil. I’ve done less of it over the years, and frankly haven’t made any since I became vegan. Why? It’s an egg thing. Yes, a lot of pasta is made from 100% semolina flour and water. But that’s dry pasta, not fresh pasta. Fresh pasta had to have egg. And most of the vegan egg alternatives seemed like a bad idea in pasta (flax seed pasta anyone?). I’m vegan and proud, but I won’t compromise my food just so I can say it’s vegan. So I thought I was stuck with dried pasta.

Then we went to Portobello a few weeks ago and the food was eye opening. Astounding, amazing, game changingly good. And all of their pasta is handmade fresh pasta. OK, it’s time to rethink the whole “you can’t make fresh pasta without eggs thing.” I did a little more research. In the Artful Vegan (one of the Millennium restaurant books), they say that they make their pasta with semolina, water and a splash of olive oil. I’ve tried using 100% semolina flour in the past for pasta and didn’t like the texture. It lacked the fine suppleness that fresh pasta should have. So I read up on egg substitutes and thought about tracking down the Ener-G egg replacer, even though Vegan with a Vengeance says it can give a weird flavor. But then I discovered Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer: soy flour, wheat gluten, corn syrup solids, and align (from algae). Corn Syrup Solids? But it is Bob’s Red Mill. Hmm, corn syrup solids? Really? But I trust a man who gave his company to his employees when he retired.

So I tried it. The instructions are 1 tablespoon of egg replacer plus 3 tablespoons of water equals one egg. I use the basic measurement for pasta that I learned from Giuliano Bugialli: one egg per cup of flour, plus a little bit of olive oil, but I had to alter that somewhat.  Since Millennium used semolina, I decided to add some. Here’s what I came up with:

Fresh pasta

1 cup of white flour
1 cup of semolina
4 tablespoons of Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer
¾ cups of water
A splash of oil (1-2 teaspoons, maybe)

Remember, it’s pasta and humidity, your flour, etc. will affect how much water you need. So these quantities are approximate but they are pretty close. Mix the flours together. Mix the egg replacer, water and oil together. Put the flour on a board and make a well in the middle. Add the liquid to the well. Mix it with a fork, incorporating more flour as it thickens. When it’s thick enough, start to mix it by hand. Work it into a stiff dough. When it’s stiff, start to roll it with a rolling pin. Divide it into two or three parts and run it through a pasta machine. Mine has 7 settings but I normally go until number 5 and then cut it as tagliatelle. Put it on clean dish towels and let it dry somewhat.

This sauce is almost directly out of the Millennium cookbook. I wanted something sort of rich and creamy, but also something that wouldn’t completely smother the pasta. But it does have a fair amount of black pepper. Start with a little less, taste it (you should always taste as you go), and decide if you need more.

Lemon, Black Pepper and Caper Garlic Cream (adapted from the Millennium Cookbook)

¾ cup braised garlic
1½ cups almond milk
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon white miso
½ teaspoon kosher salt
Zest from one lemon, finely chopped
Juice from lemon
½ to ¾ teaspoons of coarsely cracked black pepper
1-2 tablespoons of capers

Mix all of the ingredients except the capers in a blender. Blend well. Heat in a small sauce pan. Don’t let it boil. It will thicken as it gets hot. Hold on the side, keeping it warm.

Cook the pasta. Remember, fresh pasta cooks in a few minutes. Toss the pasta with the sauce, add the capers and serve. If you go by traditional Italian standards, you may have a little too much sauce, since they don’t like the pasta drowned in the sauce. If you like it a little saucier, use all of the sauce – pasta police be damned. If I was Julia Child, I would tell you to serve a green salad, but I’m too lazy tonight. But like Julia, I will recommend a good medium bodied red wine or a good beer (I could see going NW IPA to cut the cream or something golden and Belgian to add complexity. 

Stuffed shells

I don’t know why I don’t make more stuffed shells, because they’re really good. Maybe it’s because I always think they’re going to be more work than they actually are. There’s nothing fancy about these. Just satisfying comfort food. The pictures are also pretty dull – but we all know what stuffed shells look like, right? This recipe uses a tofu “ricotta” and spinach filling, but you could use pretty much anything. You can replace the spinach with mushrooms, or add mushrooms to it. Pretty much any vegetable will work for the stuffing, but be sure to remove as much water as possible so that it doesn’t make the shells mushy. The tofu ricotta is based on the one from Vegan With a Vengeance, but I use roasted garlic instead.

Before covering in sauce

See why a gave a picture of them before the sauce is added?  Not much to see here.

Stuffed shells

1 box of shell pasta, cooked a little less than al dente (since they’ll cook more in the oven)
Marinara sauce (no I’m not giving you a recipe, but please don’t use a jarred sauce)

For the Tofu “ricotta” and spinach filling:
2 – 12 oz. packages of silken tofu
2 teaspoons of olive oil
½ cup of nutritional yeast (nooch)
Juice of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons roasted garlic
2 tablespoons of basil, finely minced
1 lb. of spinach, blanched, squeezed dry and finely chopped (frozen works well too)

Mash the ricotta ingredients together with a fork until well blended. Taste it and make sure it’s balanced. Add more salt, garlic, or lemon juice if you think it needs it. Mix the spinach in.

Add a thin layer of tomato sauce to the bottom of a baking dish that's large enough to hold the shells in a single layer.  Stuff the shells and put them seam side down in the baking dish and top with tomato sauce. Baked in a 350 oven for 45 minutes until bubbly. Eat and wonder why you don’t make them more often since they’re so damn good and so easy.

Penne with Roasted Fennel and Onions, Seitan Sausages, and Roasted Garlic Cashew Cream

Fennel is one of my favorite vegetables. Although it’s become better known in the last 10 years, it’s still under appreciated. It’s incredibly versatile and works well cooked or raw. It’s also something that’s generally readily in cooler months. Roasting fennel mellows its flavor and brings out its sweetness. OK, the picture isn't stellar because most of the ingredients are similar in color, but it's a dish with a rich creamy garlic cream flavor and an underlying sweetness from the roasted fennel and onions. 

Penne with roasted fennel, roasted onions, seitan sausages and roasted garlic cashew cream
Serves 4-6

1 bulb of fennel (use 2 if they’re small), trimmed, cut in half lengthwise, and sliced into 3/8 inch slices (reserve some fronds if you want for garnish)
1 large onion, peeled and cut into 3/8 inch wedges
Spray oil
White wine (for deglazing the baking sheet)
1 seitan sausage (see previous blog post), cut into quarter lengthwise and the sliced 3/8 inches thick
4 teaspoons chopped basil
Salt and pepper to taste
1.5 cups roasted garlic cashew cream (recipe follows)
1 pound dried penne (you can substitute whole wheat pasta if you want)
Juice from 1 lemon

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degree. Spray a sheet pan with spray oil and scatter the onion and fennel on the sheet pan. Lightly spray the onion and fennel with oil. Put the sheet pan in the oven and cook until the vegetables are browned and lightly caramelized (about 30 minutes). When they’re done, remove the pan form the oven and deglaze it with a little white wine.
2. While the fennel and onions roast, heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Lightly coat it with some spray oil and add the seitan sausage and sauté for about 5-8 minutes. The seitan is already cooked – all you need to do is give it some color and texture. Don’t overcook it! Hold to the side, while the vegetables finish roasting and the pasta cooks.
3. Cook the penne until it’s al dente. Try to time it so it’s done when the vegetables are done.
4. Add the roasted vegetables and any juices to the skillet with the seitan sausages. Add the basil, salt and pepper and toss to combine. Add the cooked, drained pasta and the cashew cream. Serve in bowls. Drizzle a little lemon juice on each bowl. Garnish with fennel fronds if desired and serve.

Roasted garlic cashew cream
Makes about 1.5 cups

½ cup raw cashews
¾ cup water
½ cup roasted garlic puree
2 teaspoons nutritional yeast (nooch)
½ teaspoon kosher salt

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend for several minutes until emulsified and creamy.