Pasta has to be one of the world’s greatest comfort foods, alongside any kind of potato dish, of course. But for many, pasta is considered unhealthy, high calorie or fattening, and is definitely not seen as any kind of ‘diet’ food.
Well, we’re here to BUST that myth with this outrageously delicious, 30 minute, charred veggie pasta recipe that contains no oils ( and it really doesn’t need it).
What Is The Healthiest Pasta?
There are many healthy alternatives for pasta on the market these days. They’re literally everywhere. Gone are the days when the only choice was the white flour gluten versions.
You now have pastas of every variety, including white, wholegrain, spelt, chickpea, buckwheat, soy, red lentil, fava bean and brown rice pastas, probably to name just a few.
But, these pastas are not created equally. Some have different textures that may not work for you as a pasta substitute. Depending on brands and the legumes used, bean pastas can notoriously fall apart if even slightly over-cooked. So bear this in mind when making pasta alternatives for the first time.
Shop about
Shop around to find something that works for you. You may just be happy to stick to the real article, and if so, this is more than ok. But, for the gluten free or the health conscious, there really is something for everyone, but testing is vital.
Shop about for the best pasta on your local grocery shelves and go from there.
What Is The Best Pasta Alternative
Ok, so, we’ve tried and tested MANY pastas to try and take the hard work out of this deal for you.
Some pastas just seem to bind better, whilst others can have a sloppy texture and generally fall apart (not ideal). So, there’s two ways to make this work for you.
Firstly, NEVER over-cook a pasta alternative because it will more than likely go to mush and fall apart due to the lack of gluten. Gluten binds, and without it you must be careful. Check the cooking instructions and time them exactly. Also, check your pasta frequently. It can go over in a minute.
Secondly, you’ll find that one of the best gluten free pastas to use that actually holds its shape like a regular pasta is brown rice pasta. This, in our opinion, is the best pasta alternative if you want as close to authentic a flavour and texture as possible.
Spelt pasta (not gluten free), soy, and red lentil pasta come in at a close second, but must be cooked to exact timings.
Worst Pasta Alternatives
This can be very specific to brands, as some work much better than others. But generally, you may find buckwheat and chickpea pastas the hardest to work with for texture specifically. These pastas are much more suited to just drizzling with a light olive oil or sprinkled with some nutritional yeast.
It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use them as they are both delicious and very high protein, but you will find they generally don’t have a texture even close to resembling pasta and will more than likely disintegrate if you over mix them into heavy sauces, such as in this dish.
What Healthy Vegan Cheese Can I Top My Pasta With?
There are lots of vegan cheeses and parmesans on the market right now, and they are more than likely delicious and a great topping for your plant based pasta dishes. But for this charred veggie pasta recipe, you may want to keep your topping healthy and oil free, like the dish.
You can make a very simple, homemade parmesan alternative with a spice grinder or blender from the following ingredients:-
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds (can be subbed for walnuts)
- 2 heaped tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1/2 tsp dried garlic
- A dash of salt and black pepper to taste
Blitz these in your spice or coffee grinder (the best option) or blender. Don’t over blitz or it will just clump together. You need to keep a little texture in there.
Alternatively, just opt for sprinkling your pasta with plain nutritional yeast as it has a wonderful cheesy flavour without the fuss.
20 Minute, Charred Veggie Pasta Recipe (No Oil!)
Equipment
- Large, non-stick frying pan
- Chopping board
- Wooden spoon
- Large saucepan
Ingredients
- 250 g dried pasta tubes or spirals Use pasta that holds together well like wholewheat, spelt or if gluten free try brown rice pasta.
- 1 head broccoli chopped into small florets
- 2 red peppers cut into 1 inch chunks.
- 1 white onion sliced quite thickly
- 1 red onion sliced quite thickly
- Couple handfuls frozen peas
- 1 400g can tomatoes cherry tomatoes
- Half cup veggie stock
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 6 cloves garlic crushed
- 1.5 tbsp Italian spices Or just oregano
- Black pepper
- Large handful fresh basil chopped
- Hot water for splashing
For the vegan parmesan
- 1.5 tbsp sesame seeds Alternatively you can use a handful of walnuts.
- 1.5 tbsp nutritional yeast
- Seasonings a dash of salt, pepper and garlic or onion powder.
Instructions
- Put your pasta on to boil and cook to package instructions.
- Meanwhile, get a large frying pan onto the highest heat. The reason for the high heat is to get a charred effect on your vegetables without the use of oils.
- Firstly, quite thickly slice your onions and throw them into the pan and let them sizzle. Don't worry about them burning as you need to give them a few minutes to darken and caramelise. Add your crushed garlic.
- In the meantime start chopping and adding your other veggies as they are ready and keep frying for another 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add all spices. Keep adding more splashes of hot water as needed, but don't allow it to get too wet.
- Add your tomatoes, stock and tomato paste. You may want to add a little less or a little more stock according to the consistency you desire. Stir. Add your cooked pasta and stir well until fully covered. Sometimes it's good to use some of the starchy pasta water to thicken your sauce too.
- Serve alone or sprinkled with nutritional yeast or homemade veggie parmesan.
For the vegan parmesan
- Whizz all ingredients up in a spice or coffee grinder preferably. If you don't have one of these, use a high speed blender. Do not over process or the oils will come out of the sesame seeds and the whole thing will stick. Do it a little at a time and check the texture. You want some lumps, not a fine powder.
Video
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We hope you love this delicious pasta recipe as much as we do. Learning simple recipes is something that will help keep you on track with your whole foods plant based diet.
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