something new

I love tomato sauce. My favourite pasta dishes involve tomatos (and kale, let's be honest) and I have not thought about cream sauce in years (probably mostly because I can't eat it). Connor doesn't complain but you should have seen how excited he got when I finally found a dairy-free (vegan) cream sauce pasta dish that is actually delicious. 

And here it is. Be excited.

LINGUINE WITH VEGAN CREAM SAUCE AND MUSHROOMS

14 oz uncooked linguine 
2 Tbs olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 cups fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced 
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 & 1/2 Tbs lemon juice
1 & 1/2 cups unsweetened soy, rice, or macadamia nut milk
2 Tbs nutritional yeast flakes
2 Tbs Earth Balance
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (or more) 
3 Tbs finely chopped fresh parsley (dried works too) 
4 tsp pine nuts  (or more)
Sprinkle of seaweed on top

Cook pasta in boiling salted water according to package directions. Drain. 

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly (do not let it burn). Add mushrooms, wine, and lemon juice; saute for 5 minutes, adding up to 1/4 cup water (only if needed) to prevent sticking. 

Add soy milk, nutritional yeast, Earth Balance, and red pepper flakes, season with salt and pepper. Cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Divide pasta between your plates, top with mushrooms and sauce, and garnish with parsley and pine nuts. 

And if you aren't living dairy-free, you may wish to replace the soy with cow and the Earth Balance with butter. 

Recipe adapted from The 30 Minute Vegan's Taste of Europe by Mark Reinfeld, featured in Vegetarian Times (December 2012). Image from Google Images.