This creamy bowtie pasta is scrumptious and easy! It is creamy, but not heavy, and filled with crispy button mushrooms, roasted broccolini, and sun-dried tomatoes. I made this pasta for my non-vegan parents last week and they called it a “home-run!” To say that I was proud was an understatement.
Vegan creamy bowtie pasta is also super simple to make and is very elegant to serve. There are no processed ingredients, or fake cheeses, just wholesome foods that don’t make you feel guilty that you’re eating a big bowl of pasta. It’s truly the best of both worlds.
I start this creamy bowtie pasta by soaking some cashews in boiling water and creating a cashew cream. Then, I roast some broccolini in the oven with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper, and white onion. While that’s going I make some crispy button mushrooms. In that same pan, I boil down my cashew cream, add in all of the ingredients and bring it all together. This is one of the best things I have eaten in a long time.
You can also prep the cashew cream and cook the veggies ahead of time if you want a quicker dinner.
Please let me know if you give this creamy bowtie pasta a try! It is creamy, savory, rich yet light, and relatively healthy! If you’re looking for a stunning entrée, give this recipe a try!
Creamy Bowtie Pasta Ingredients:
- 1 lb. of bowtie pasta
- 1 cup of raw cashews
- Water (about four cups divided- for soaking and for making the cashew cream)
- 3 Tbs. Olive oil (divided)
- 16 oz. white button mushrooms (wiped clean and very thinly sliced)
- 8 cloves of garlic (minced or smashed through a garlic press-divided)
- 1/4 cup of vegan butter (I used Miyokos)
- 8 oz. Broccolini
- 1/2 Large white onion (thinly sliced)
- 1/2 cup of sun-dried tomatoes (plain- not in olive oil)
- 1/2 lemon juiced (2-3 Tbs)
- 2 tsp of kosher salt (divided, plus more for the pasta water)
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Method:
- Preheat your oven to 375º F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Chop your broccolini into similar sizes stalks and all. I cut mine in about 1 1/2 inch pieces. Thinly slice your 1/2 white onion. Place the broccolini and onions onto the baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 Tbs. of Olive oil, and use your hands to make sure that all of the broccolini and onions are coated with olive oil. Sprinkle with about 1/2 tsp of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- When the oven is ready, bake the broccolini/onion mix for 20-25 minutes tossing halfway through. You want the broccolini to begin to get brown on the edges, but not to be burnt. I cooked mine for about 22 minutes.
- Boil some water and cover the raw cashews with the boiling water and soak them for fifteen minutes.
- Put another large pot of water on to boil, and generously salt. When it comes to a rapid boil, cook the pasta according to the package instructions, but leave off about a couple of minutes. For example, my pasta instructions said to cook for 9-11 minutes, and I cooked my pasta for 8 minutes. The pasta will finish cooking in the cashew cream later on.
- Next start with your mushrooms. Our goal here is to get the mushrooms very crispy. In order to achieve a crispier mushroom, I highly recommend that you wipe your mushrooms clean with a damp cloth rather than rinse them. This will ensure that your mushrooms won’t absorb that extra liquid, and will give you a crispier mushroom!
- After you have wiped your mushrooms clean, slice them very thinly. Heat 2 Tbs. of olive oil in an extra large skillet- we will be eventually using this same big skillet for all of our ingredients- so ensure that it’s big enough for all of that!
- With the olive oil hot, add in the thinly sliced mushrooms. Toss and stir frequently. Cook down for about 6 minutes until a lot of the liquid has cooked off of the mushrooms. At that time, add in 6 of the cloves of garlic. Keep cooking for another 4 minutes or so until the mushrooms have gotten pretty crispy and golden at the sides. When the mushrooms seem to have sufficiently cooked, season them with 1/2 tsp of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, and set them in a bowl to the side.
- Now, you can whip together the cashew cream! Drain the soaked cashews of their soaking water, and place them into a blender with two more cups of fresh water, 1/2 juiced lemon (about 2-3 Tbs.), and 1 tsp of salt. Blend until smooth.
- Return to that extra-large skillet. It still has a bunch of yummy mushroom and garlic flavor at the bottom of the pan. We’re going to continue to build on that. Add in you 1/4 cup of vegan butter and melt it down until it gets bubbly. Make sure that the butter doesn’t get brown- just bubbly.
- Immediately add in your cashew cream and cook it down for just a few minutes on medium heat stirring it occasionally to ensure that it does not burn. At this point, I also add in 2 more cloves of raw garlic pressed or minced (yes, raw! It gives it a bit of extra bite!)
- Next, add in you al-dente pasta and cook for a couple minutes more. Your cashew cream should be getting thicker as it reduces and sticks to the pasta.
- Now add in the rest of the ingredients- the roasted broccolini, the crispy mushrooms, and the sun-dried tomatoes.
- Combine everything well, and serve! I topped mine with a bit of extra fresh ground pepper, but feel free to top with basil, parsley, or even some of my vegan parmesan! Enjoy!
I hope that you enjoy this pasta! If you are looking for other pasta dishes, consider checking out my Kale and Butternut Squash One-Pot Pasta, My Vegan Eggplant Parmesan, or my Classic Marinara. All are tasty and satisfying! Happy pasta eating! 🙂