Creamy Mushroom Rotini (Vegan)

I’m writing a cookbook. An electric cookbook. An ecookbook. Why am I writing a cookbook? Mostly because I’m unemployed and read Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. My therapist recommended that book before she dumped me. Seriously, I think she dumped me. This cookbook will have all my favorite recipes from the blog in an easy-to-read format, a.k.a. less of the gab gab gab (like this paragraph). It will also have some never-before-seen dishes and hopefully a nice picture of me on the cover. Coming to computer screens in maybe three weeks but please don’t hold me to that.

Anyway. I’ve made vegan mushroom stroganoff in the past, but guess what: I didn’t like the chunky onions. As a solution to this issue I decided to turn the stroganoff into a mushroom rotini and blend those onions into a creamy sauce. It rocks! Mushrooms are the best and if you don’t agree, see ya later.

The real trick to this mushroom rotini giving the onions time to cook and caramelize. The browner they get the sweeter they will become and the more delicious the sauce will be. This is what the onion looks like before – lame.

And this is what it looks like after! Perfect babe.

And the star of the show: mushrooms. To be honest, the more mushrooms in this dish the better. But how many ounces of mushrooms would you readers be willing to clean, slice, and saute? For me, 16 ounces is about where I call it quits.

Blending cashews into the onions give this sauce the delicious, fatty, creamy nature. The mushrooms are stirred in at the end and then your meal is ready. It looks a bit like cement in the photo below but my goodness is it delicious.

I love my pasta short and chunky but use whatever type of carb you prefer. Walt even put some of the sauce in a bean quesadilla and you know what, it sort of worked.

Enjoy!

Print Recipe

Creamy Mushroom Rotini (Vegan)

A simple mushroom pasta dish for the every day. The secret to the creamy vegan sauce is caramelized onions and of course cashews.

Course

Main Dish

Cuisine

Italian

Keyword

mushrooms, pasta, vegan

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Passive Time

10 minutes

Servings

people

Ingredients

• 16 ounces rotini or any pasta you like
• 16 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cups onion, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup cashews, soaked
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

Course Main Dish Cuisine Italian Keyword mushrooms, pasta, vegan Prep Time 15 minutes Cook Time 30 minutes Passive Time 10 minutes Servings people Ingredients 16 ounces rotini or any pasta you like 16 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 cups onion, sliced 2 cloves garlic, sliced 1 cup water 1 cup cashews, soaked 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes 2 tablespoons lemon juice 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

Instructions

1. Cook the pasta
2. In a large saute pan, heat the oil over low-medium heat
3. Cook the onions and garlic until caramelized, about twenty minutes
4. Transfer the onions and garlic to a food processor or blender
5. Add the cashews, water, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, and red pepper flakes to the blender and blend to combine. Add more water to reach desired consistency
6. In your now empty saute pan, cook the mushrooms.
7. Once the mushrooms are cooked, turn off the heat and stir in the onion cashew sauce
8. Serve the pasta topped with the sauce

Recipe Notes

If I have time I cook the mushrooms in batches, giving each slice enough room so they don't steam or boil from the released water. You can cook them all in one shot but they won't get as flavorful.