Before we talk about this vegan tomato and basil pasta dish, we have to start with the sauce. I made a version of the nut sauce in Amy Chaplin Cook whole foods every day recently the cookbook is almost weekly and it’s completely upgraded Meal prep game. There are a lot of variations using different nuts and herbs, but I recently made a few tweaks to her walnut sauce and was struck by how rich and creamy it is… without using any cream (or dairy).
That night, I threw some penne and roasted peppers into the sauce and loved how it coated each noodle to create it. satisfying taste often accompanies alfredo but in a completely healthy, nutrient-dense way. And so this vegan tomato and basil pasta dish was born, and it’s not only insanely delicious – it’s so simple that it can be put together in boiling time. Especially if you have prepared walnut sauce in advance (highly recommended.)
I used bucatini for this recipe—it’s hard to beat those long, chewy noodles with a satisfying puffy hole in the middle. However, any spaghetti or long noodle dish is great, and even a short noodle like penne or oil-shore would be delicious, albeit in a different way.
One thing to keep in mind is that, to make your walnuts creamy, you’ll need to soak them for a couple of hours (and up to overnight) in a pitcher of water—so don’t forget to plan. I like to soak my walnuts before baking to use in any recipe, so I usually throw them in the water as soon as I bring them home from the grocery store, then pop them in a jar in the fridge until when I’m ready to use.
The vegan cream sauce uses a strange but wonderful method: you sauté the onions and garlic until golden brown for a caramel flavor, then add a little water to de-coat the pan before transferring it all to the machine. grind. The heat of the water helps the other ingredients (walnuts, lime juice, and lime zest) combine into a smooth sauce that tastes much more complex than the sum of its parts.
While your pasta is cooking, all that’s left to do is sauté an entire quart of cherry tomatoes in olive oil, until they start to foam. Put the pasta in the same pan, add a tablespoon of vegan walnut cream sauce and a little pasta water to mix it all together. Crown of glory? Squeeze lime, chopped basil, and shredded red pepper for just the right amount of heat.
Get a healthy twist on this creamy vegan pasta with tomato
For this recipe, I used bucatini—one of my personal favorite pasta shapes thanks to its chewy bite, along with the satisfying hole that runs through the center of each noodle, perfect for soak the sauce in each noodle.
This recipe can be easily made gluten-free by swapping for a gluten-free pasta like Banza. Even though I’m gluten-free, I regularly make their pasta which has 20 grams of protein and 8 grams of fiber per serving, thanks to the fact that it’s made with chickpeas.
A few tweaks to this recipe
Like most of me pasta recipes, which is super customizable — you can swap out other seasonal vegetables for tomatoes depending on the season. Broccoli, peas, and sautéed asparagus make a great spring green pasta dish, and Brussels cabbage would be great in winter—if you want to introduce some meat, a handful of shredded bacon won’t hurt either.
For the vegan cream sauce, feel free to experiment with other nuts. Almonds or cashews? Delicious—just make sure to soak them first, as with the walnuts. Or, you can add some pine nuts that are already soft and creamy enough that they don’t need to be soaked first.
Try upgrading the flavor of the sauce with a bit of miso, to add the umami you can get from anchovies in a more classic Italian sauce.
How to duplicate this recipe to feed a crowd
Most pasta recipes, including this one, are super simple to double for a crowd. Just double the pasta and tomatoes, and use a large skillet when sautéing the tomatoes so you can fit all of that pasta with enough room to create puff as you add the sauce. That’s really it! The sauce has made more, so you should have as much.
Want more healthy, delicious and easy pasta recipes?
If you’ve been here a while, you know we’ve Caught you. Pasta lovers for life. Here are some of our other all-time favorite noodle recipes:
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