Before I was vegan, I never tried pasta carbonara. I find that odd since it has four ingredients I loved: pasta, egg, bacon and cheese. But somehow this dish fell under my radar.
I know about it mostly from watching cooking shows on TV. It’s Rachael Ray’s husband’s favorite dish, the first dish she ever cooked for him, the dish she makes him every year on his birthday, and since I am an RR fan and want to be the vegan Rachael Ray, all this information has been burned into my brain.
So when I wanted to make a vegan version of pasta carbonara, I searched all the recipes out there. They all seemed to replace the eggs with something creamy like tofu or cashew cream. The problem with that is authentic carbonara does not have cream. The sauce is simply eggs and cheese. All the recipes I saw sounded more like Alfredo and that’s not carbonara. I wanted to make it as authentic as possible.
Enter the amazing creations from Follow Your Heart and my authentic vegan carbonara was no longer a dream. FYH sent me some of their new, incredible VeganEgg. It’s a new whole egg replacer and that makes me so happy.
You see, when I started my vegan journey, I thought it would be chicken I couldn’t live without but eggs were actually the last food I gave up. Not only did I use them in cooking a lot but I loved scrambled eggs and omelets. Although I love tofu scrambles and chickpea omelets, I still miss eggs – even 7 years later.
With Follow Your Heart VeganEgg, you must mix the powder with cold water and you have a bowl of whisked vegan eggs.
You can scramble them, make omelets with them and cook with them. They look just like eggs but more importantly, they taste exactly like eggs!
Giving up cheese wasn’t a really big deal for me except for two cheeses I ate all the time: mozzarella and parmesan. Those were my favorites and while there are really good vegan products out there, they aren’t exact. I still miss those cheeses. But now Follow Your Heart has come out with a line of vegan parmesan. Their Parmesan-style cheese comes in shreds and grated cheese. FYH generously sent me some of the shreds. One taste and I thought I was eating dairy cheese. It’s that good! The Italian girl in me is very happy!
Now I had what I needed to make authentic, yet vegan, carbonara. The recipe also calls for bacon and I cooked up some smoked tofu but you can use whatever brand you like. Which vegan bacon you use is probably going to be the difference of whether your dish is gluten-free or not. Everything else in this recipe is gluten-free.
Pasta Carbonara is one of the easiest, quickest pasta dishes you can make. Now I know why it’s often eaten as a late-night meal. All you have to do is cook the pasta, saute some onions and garlic, crisp up the vegan bacon and pour the egg-cheese mixture down on top. Boom! You’re done.
Once the cheesy egg mixture poured over the hot pasta and I stirred, it started to cook and coat the pasta with a luxurious sauce that tasted….eggy. Creamy and eggy. There’s no need to add cream to this dish. It doesn’t really belong there and believe me, you don’t want to cover that delicious eggy taste.
The vegan bacon adds a crispy texture to the dish. It’s decadent, rich but not overloaded with cheese or anything too creamy. It’s just eggy, cheesy goodness.
My Authentic Vegan Pasta Carbonara was a big hit and it will definitely go into the rotation of favorite dinners. I can’t wait to try all the other parmesan products from Follow Your Heart – I’m especially looking forward to the block so I can grate my own cheese on top of pasta. And I’m so grateful that FYH gave me back eggs. If this product had existed 7 1/2 years ago, I would have gone vegan that much sooner. Enjoy!
Authentic Vegan Pasta Carbonara
GF if you use gluten-free vegan bacon.
Kosher salt
1-lb. gluten-free pasta
4 oz. vegan bacon, chopped
2 Tbs. vegetable or coconut oil
2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
8 Tbs. Follow Your Heart VeganEgg + 2 cups cold water
¾ cup Follow Your Heart Vegan Parmesan-Style Cheese
¼ tsp. black pepper
2 Tbs. fresh parsley, chopped
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a few spoons of salt and the pasta. Stir and cook until al dente, according to the package directions. Reserve some of the pasta cooking water for later. Drain and set aside.
Chop up the vegan bacon. Heat 1 or 2 tablespoons of vegetable or coconut oil in a deep saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the vegan bacon and cook until crisp. Transfer to a bowl.
In the same pan, add the olive oil. Saute the onion until softened, about 4 minutes. Add in the garlic and cook another minute until fragrant. Transfer the cooked pasta to the pan and toss with the onions and garlic.
In a separate bowl, combine the VeganEggs and the cold water. Whisk until smooth. Mix in the Parmesan shreds, salt and pepper. Pour the egg mixture over the hot pasta and stir continuously until the eggs cook but don’t let them scramble. If the sauce feels too thick, add a bit of pasta water to loosen it up.
When the pasta is coated with the cheesy egg mixture, add the bacon back into the pan and toss to combine. Serve hot and garnish with fresh parsley.
The “V” Word: Say it. Eat it. Live it.
Print The Most Authentic Vegan Pasta Carbonara Author: Rhea Parsons Recipe type: Pasta Cuisine: Italian Ingredients- Kosher salt
- 1-lb. gluten-free pasta
- 4 oz. vegan bacon, chopped
- 2 Tbs. vegetable or coconut oil
- 2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 8 Tbs. Follow Your Heart VeganEgg + 2 cups cold water
- ¾ cup Follow Your Heart Vegan Parmesan-Style Cheese
- ¼ tsp. black pepper
- 2 Tbs. fresh parsley, chopped
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a few spoons of salt and the pasta. Stir and cook until al dente, according to the package directions. Reserve some of the pasta cooking water for later. Drain and set aside.
- Chop up the vegan bacon. Heat 1 or 2 tablespoons of vegetable or coconut oil in a deep saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the vegan bacon and cook until crisp. Transfer to a bowl.
- In the same pan, add the olive oil. Saute the onion until softened, about 4 minutes. Add in the garlic and cook another minute until fragrant. Transfer the cooked pasta to the pan and toss with the onions and garlic.
- In a separate bowl, combine the VeganEggs and the cold water. Whisk until smooth. Mix in the Parmesan shreds, salt and pepper. Pour the egg mixture over the hot pasta and stir continuously until the eggs cook but don’t let them scramble. If the sauce feels too thick, add a bit of pasta water to loosen it up.
- When the pasta is coated with the cheesy egg mixture, add the bacon back into the pan and toss to combine. Serve hot and garnish with fresh parsley.
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