Recipe: Velvety Chickpea Alfredo
Plant-based food is delicious and really doesn’t have to be complicated. Angela Liddon shows you how with her delicious recipes and handy tips in Vanavond Vegan. In fact, if you leaf through this book, you’ll immediately feel like putting vegan dishes on the table more often, such as this simple but, above all, delicious chickpea Alfredo.
Angela: “This savory and warming meal is on the table in half an hour, and I always have the ingredients at home. It is
my personal version of the Italian pasta Alfredo. Put me on the sofa, under a blanket, wearing thick socks, with a bowl of chickpea Alfredo, and you won’t hear me complain! The cashew butter is creamy, the nutritional yeast is packed with umami, the garlic boosts your immune system, and the stock provides the savory note – together, they give the sauce its velvety, slightly decadent character. Enjoy it with fresh bread or cooked rice; that makes this comfort food even more nutritious. To save time, I often buy sliced mushrooms. (Okay, okay, I also often buy peeled garlic. The less work, the less stress. That’s worth something too, right?)”
How to make velvety chickpea Alfredo
- Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 5–6 minutes, until the onion is soft.
- Add the mushrooms and a pinch of salt. Stir everything through and turn up the heat. Cook uncovered for 8–10 minutes, until most of the cooking liquid has evaporated (you may leave 1–2 tablespoons). Keep stirring well. If the mushroom mixture threatens to burn, add a little stock. Scrape any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Take a small mixing bowl and stir the cashew butter into the stock until you have a velvety sauce. (If the butter is too thick to stir, you can also use a blender.)
- Add the sauce, nutritional yeast, chickpeas and chili flakes to the pan. Turn the heat to low and let everything simmer uncovered for 5–8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Taste and add vinegar, black pepper and salt if necessary. If you like it hot, you can also sprinkle over some cayenne pepper.
- Serve the dish with a side of your choice and garnish with parsley.
Tip: one 400 g can of chickpeas equals 265 g of cooked chickpeas, in case you want to cook them yourself.
Title: Vanavond Vegan
Author: Angela Liddon
Price: €25.99
Publisher: Spectrum
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