By Sara
Prior to switching to a vegan diet in 2017, my husband Wes loved a non-vegan Spicy Sausage Pasta. It had oil, sausage, heavy cream, and Monterey Jack cheese. It was a cheesy delicious meal that made us both tired and bloated after eating it.
We recently celebrated his Birthday, so I brought back this favorite of his. Now I’ve recreated this dish with a plant-based spin. It is still just as delicious, but now after eating it we aren’t feeling worse for the wear– Win-Win!
“Eat more whole plant foods and less of everything else.”
Wesley’s Favorite Pasta:
(Makes 6-8 servings)
1 large diced onion
3 cloves minced garlic
2-4 Field Roast plant based sausages (Smoked Apple & Sage OR Italian Garlic & Fennel)
One 10 oz can of Ro-Tel tomatoes and green chiles
One 17.6 oz bag pasta of your choice
½ tsp pepper
½ cup thinly sliced scallions
½ cup white beans, rinsed and drained
½ cup raw cashews soaked in water for 10 mins
⅓ cup sunflower seeds soaked with cashews in water for 10 mins
2 cups water
⅓ cup tapioca flour
3 TBSP nutritional yeast/nooch
1 ½ TBSP Yellow Miso
1 ½ TBSP Apple Cider vinegar
2 ½ TBSP Lemon Juice
1 ½ tsp Tahini
1 tsp Onion Powder
½ tsp Smoked Paprika Powder
Heat a pan over medium high heat, and then add the diced onion. Saute’ until lightly browned, about 4-5 minutes. Add the chopped sausage and cook for another 4 minutes. Add garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the can of Ro-Tel using the moisture in this to deglaze your pan.
Cook the pasta per instructions until al dente.
While the pasta is cooking, make the cheese sauce. Drain the cashews and sunflower seeds, and add to a high-powered blender, with the white beans, water, tapioca flour, nooch, miso, vinegar, lemon juice, tahini, onion powder and smoked paprika. Blend until smooth, and keep on high speed until cheese sauce is heated through and thickened. You will hear the blender adjust to the thickened mixture. This will take about 5 minutes. Be very careful when removing the lid, a lot of steam will escape.
Add the cheese sauce and pepper to the pasta and stir to combine. Add the Ro-Tel, onion, garlic and sausage mixture. Transfer to an oven safe dish and top with scallions. Place in the oven and broil until spotty brown and heated through, about 5 minutes.
If you’d like, you can add some kale or spinach with the onion mixture in the first step and saute until tender to help add some greens to this dish. Or you can just eat them on the side, whatever your preference!
This is great along with some sauteed or steamed greens, roasted broccoli, brussels sprouts or zucchini, or even green beans. I’ve tried it with both the listed varieties of Field Roast sausages above. I prefer the Smoked Apple & Sage, but Wes enjoyed it either way.
We hope you play with this recipe and make it yours. If you try it, please let us know by tagging us on social media or comment below!
We are honored to be featured in Feedspot’s Top 60 Vegan Lifestyle Blogs post— check it out here!
