Pumpkin, Sage & White Bean Pasta

This pumpkin, sage & white bean pasta is a healthy dinner, perfect for fall! It’s packed with fibre and plant-based protein from the white beans and tofu in the sauce. You can go the extra mile and make some vegan soy milk cheese to top it with before baking (or, once you’ve made the sauce, you can simply toss the pasta in it and serve right away). Watch the video and grab the recipe below!

Prep time: 5-10 minutes

Cook time: 20-35 minutes

Servings: 2-3

Ingredients

• 2-3 tbsp olive oil for frying
• 1 shallot
• 4 cloves of garlic
• Few sprigs of fresh thyme
• Few leaves of fresh sage
• 1 heaping tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• Salt and pepper
• Red pepper flakes
• 220g dry pasta (I used orecchiette)
• 3/4 cup cooked cannellini beans
• Vegan parmesan cheese (optional)
• Breadcrumbs (optional)

Pumpkin Sauce

• 3/4 cup canned pure pumpkin
• 3 tbsp roasted unsalted cashews
• 50g (about 1/8 of a block) firm tofu
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup water or veggie broth

Soy Milk Cheese

To top, optional

• 1/3 cup unsweetened soy milk
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp tapioca starch
• Pinch of salt

Equipment

• Frying pan
• Medium pot
• Blender
• Small pot (optional)
• Baking dish (optional)

Instructions

1. Start by prepping your veggies. Finely dice a shallot and peel and mince garlic cloves.
2. Boil water in a medium pot and cook pasta according to package directions.
3. To a frying pan on medium heat, add olive oil, diced shallot, minced garlic, and fresh thyme sprigs and sage leaves. Keep an eye and stir occasionally as you prep the pumpkin sauce (next step).
4. To a blender, add 3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree (make sure it’s pure pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling!), 3 tbsp cashews, a small 50g cube of tofu, 2 tbsp nutritional yeast, salt to taste, and 1 cup water or veggie broth. Blend until smooth and creamy.
5. Once your shallots and garlic have cooked down, remove the thyme and sage, add 1 tsp Italian seasoning and some red pepper flakes as well as 1 heaping tbsp tomato paste. Mix well, before pouring in the pumpkin sauce and bringing to simmer. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed (it will likely need another pinch of salt!).
6. After you’ve drained your cooked pasta, pour it into the pan to mix it into the pumpkin sauce. Add in 3/4 cup cooked beans. You can either serve right away (topped with some vegan parmesan cheese!), or continue to the next steps for a pasta bake.
7. For the pasta bake, preheat the oven to 450F, then I like making a quick stovetop soy milk cheese. To a small pot on medium heat, add 1/3 cup soy milk, 1 tsp olive oil, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1 tbsp nutritional yeast, 1 tsp tapioca starch, and a pinch of salt. Whisk continuously until it turns into a stretchy consistency, then remove from heat. Add the pasta to a 8″ or 9″ square baking dish, top with the stretchy cheese, a few breadcrumbs, and toss in the oven for approx 10-15 mins. Top with vegan parmesan and serve up!

 Notes

*Step 7 (baking the pasta with the homemade soy milk cheese) is optional! Skip this for a quicker pasta recipe.