Cheesy Squash Carbonara with Fried Mushrooms

  • Prep: 10m
  • Cook: 1hr
  • Serves: 4

I can only claim this is loosely related to a carbonara – but it’s the best way I could think of to describe the creamy delicious sauce encasing the pasta! It’s made from roast squash, onion and garlic all whizzed together with some smoky paprika and nutritional yeast – it’s super tasty, and doubles as a dip if you have any leftovers.
Niki's Tip: You don’t need to add plant-based bacon, but it will make this recipe even more delicious.

Method

  1. TO PREPARE THE SAUCE:
  2. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
  3. Peel the butternut squash, carefully chop into small cubes, then add to a baking tray.
  4. Add the onion. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and spread out on the tray. Now add the garlic bulb.
  5. Roast for about 40 minutes or until it’s cooked and golden brown. Remove the garlic after 20 minutes.
  6. Reserve a quarter of the roast squash.
  7. TO MAKE THE SAUCE:
  8. Add the roast squash, tomato purée, paprika, salt, almond milk, olive oil, nutritional yeast and the peeled roast garlic to a food processor. Blitz until you get a creamy sauce.
  9. Add a little water for a looser consistency, then transfer to a saucepan.
  10. Sauté the mushrooms with the oil in a pan. Fry until soft, then season with salt and pepper.
  11. Cook the pasta following pack instructions, and drain.
  12. If you’re adding vegan bacon, cook according to the pack instructions.
  13. Add the pasta to the sauce in the pan and stir and heat gently.
  14. Top with the roast squash, mushrooms and bacon.

Ingredients

All to be sourced organic where possible

  • 1 medium squash, peeled
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 garlic bulb
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp ground pepper
  • 225g spaghetti or other pasta of choice
  • For the sauce
  • 2 tbsp tomato purée
  • 200ml almond milk
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • Pinch of black pepper
  • Toppings
  • 200g mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • Pinch of salt and black pepper
  • 100g plant-based bacon (optional)

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