Recipe: Vegan Carbonara with Seaweed Bacon

I have been on/off vegan since January last year and I've discovered some amazing recipes and techniques - I've shared some on here already including a heavenly vegan pizza, chocolate and raspberry muffins, handmade chocolates, cinnamon rolls, pancakes and more! But I was recently sent the *Seamore I See Pasta Tagliatelle and the *Seamore I Sea Bacon Seaweed Bacon (€6.95) to try out so I thought I'd combine them with a recipe.

Both the Seamore Seaweed Bacon and the Seamore Seaweed Pasta are as you would have guessed, made from 100% seaweed - it's wild organic seaweed which is harvested from Ireland and France. It's obviously suitable for vegans, it's gluten free and it's derived from a sustainable source; also it's a low carb and low calorie option.

Now onto the recipe which is for a alternative vegan carbonara with seaweed bacon. This recipe is incredibly quick and easy, it's filling and looks so delicious, I think so anyway. I used wholewheat pasta as it's healthier than traditional durum wheat pasta but you could use whatever pasta you want; you could even use some of the seaweed tagliatelle. I haven't included precise measurements for this recipe as it's all relative depending on how many you're cooking for and your preferences but I've included some rough guidelines.

Ingredients:

- 250g approx. of pasta
- 200g - 250g of mushrooms (I used mini portobello but shiitake or chestnut would be great too)
- LOTS of fresh parsley and chives
- Seasonings (onion powder, garlic powder, salt, black pepper, nutmeg)
- Alpro soya cream or make your own cashew cream
- Seaweed bacon
- Lemon zest/rind

Step One: 

Cook your pasta for a minute or so less than the packet instructions so it's more al dente and start chopping up your mushrooms, it doesn't matter about the size as long as they are all of a similar size. You could add frozen peas with the pasta if you wanted to boost your greens.

Step Two: 

Sauté your mushrooms in olive oil on a medium heat until soft and cooked through (about 8 minutes). You could add in some fresh diced garlic and shallots a few minutes before the end if you wanted but I used onion and garlic powder in the sauce to make it easier/quicker as I wanted to get back to reading in the garden. While the mushrooms and pasta are cooking for around ten minutes total, grate the rind of one small lemon and chop up your herbs for later.

Step Three:

Drain your pasta and leave to one side. Add the soya cream or cashew cream to your mushrooms along with the herbs, lemon rind and seasonings and heat through. If you're sauce isn't thick enough, dissolve half a teaspoon of cornstarch in a teaspoon or two of water and add to the sauce then heat up on a medium heat to activate the cornstarch - keep stirring! When it's reached the thickness you want, add to the pasta and mix well! If the sauce is too thick then thin it out with unsweetened plant milk e.g.: oat milk, almond milk or water/vegetable stock.

*For this sauce I mixed half soya cream and half my garlic hummus as that's what I had in the fridge at the time but you could use all soya cream or cashew cream. To make cashew cream you just need to soak a handful of cashew nuts in water or unsweetened plant milk (I use oat milk) overnight then blend them in a high speed blender (I use my NutriBullet) to make a creamy, smooth and vegan sauce).

Step Four:

For the seaweed bacon, you can add it in raw and the heat of the sauce/pasta will cook them very slightly or you can do what I did and fry them for a minute or so. You only need a tiny amount as a little goes a very long way but it does add a salty, slightly smoky/meaty flavour.

I also tried the *Seamore Seaweed Tagliatelle (€4.95) which I combined with rice noodles, sesame oil, coriander, mushrooms and soya cream to make a mismatch of a meal but it tasted really good, if I do say so myself although next time I'm going to use a lot less seaweed as a tiny amount goes a long way! It's not showing up well in the photos but both have such a creamy, dairy looking sauce that's so good!

I liked the seaweed pasta but I definitely prefer the 'seaweed bacon' as it's much more user friendly because it's so small and much quicker to prepare compared to the seaweed tagliatelle which needs to be soaked for a while and I prefer the flavour.

What do you think of my vegan carbonara recipe? Have you tried seaweed pasta or seaweed bacon?