I’ve been on the hunt for a vegan mac and cheese/cheesy tasting pasta for a long time.  I’ve had a lot of painful, sad attempts.  I’ve decided to scale back and take baby steps on this path to vegan pasta success.  Enter white bean pasta sauce.  I still add in a mere quarter cup of cheese to give it that salty, cheesy bite but most of the creaminess comes from the pureed white beans.  The onions/garlic/lemon bring a lot of flavor to the pasta that I was very into.

The sauce is creamy like an alfredo sauce and insanely delicious.  You could add in whatever veggies you like or just do this sauce alfredo style on its own sans vegetables.  This recipe got me jacked up though and I feel like I’m making progress on the hunt for vegan creamy cheesy goodness.

You’ll need:

• 2.5 cups pasta (I used gluten free, use small shapes)
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• Pinch red pepper flakes
• 2 cups spinach
• 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
• 1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
• 0.25 cup veggie broth
• 0.25 cup lemon juice
• 0.25 cup parmesan cheese (sub vegan parmesan if vegan), plus extra for garnish
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• Salt/Pep

To Make:

1. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add in onion and sauté five minutes.   Add pinch red pepper flakes and stir.  Add mushrooms and sauté for two minutes.  Add spinach and sauté until slightly wilted.
2. Meanwhile, cook pasta in boiling salted water according to package instructions.  Reserve a little pasta water.  Drain and add to skillet.
3.  Also meanwhile, add white beans, broth, remaining three tablespoons of lemon juice, two tablespoons of olive oil, cheese, garlic and salt/pep to blender.  Blend until smooth.
4. Add sauce to skillet with pasta and veggies.  Stir well adding a little pasta water if it needs to be loosened up.  Serve, garnished with additional cheese.

 Inspired by LoveandLemons