SEATTLE — Planning a romantic dinner for two? Our favorite plant-based chef Makini Howell from Plum Bistro has a recipe for you that's as easy as it is delicious. She joined us from Makini's Kitchen.
Almond Bacon Angel Hair Pasta with Maitake Mushrooms and Sweet Peas
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 package of angel hair pasta cooked according to package instructions
- 1 package of seasoned tofu (for maximum crispiness freeze your tofu overnight)
- ½ cup Blue Diamond smoked almonds smashed and chopped into bacon bit type size
- A carton or two of maitake mushrooms
- ½ cup sweet peas or more if you like
- 1 tablespoon chopped garlic divided
- ⅔ cup vegan Parmesan cheese (the brands I use are Follow Your Heart or Go Veggie)
- 1 fresh lemon
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
- ½ cup white wine
- ¼ cup vegan butter
- Microgreens or fresh parsley for garnish
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
DIRECTIONS:
Roughly chop tofu into bacon bit size pieces, heat a saute pan to med-high coat with oil and add in tofu cook until golden brown and crunchy remove from heat and set aside.
In a large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium. Add garlic, and give it a stir then in 3 tablespoons of the tofu bacon and 2 tablespoons of the chopped almonds, saute for less than a minute add in the wine and a squeeze of lemon, add salt pepper, 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, allow the wine a minute to cook off and add butter, remove from heat and toss in the sweet peas and cover allow the steam to cook the peas.
In a saute pan heat the olive oil and add in the mushrooms saute until just starting to turn golden then add in the remaining garlic and cook until mushrooms and garlic are fragrant and brown toss in the pasta and sprinkle generously with the parmesan and any remaining thyme season with salt and pepper to taste, remember your butter sauce has salt.
For a more fancy dinner, plate pasta in separate dishes and ladle a generous amount of butter sauce over the top. Or for a more casual family meal, add the sauce directly to the pan with pasta and serve with a slice of grilled lemon.
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