Vegan pumpkin pasta sauce with wild mushrooms is an easy and healthy recipe filled with the flavours of autumn. An easy 4-ingredient pumpkin sauce tossed with pasta and topped with sautéed mushrooms, garlic and herbs will give you a filling and delicious 30-minute dinner for a chilly fall evening.
Fall is finally here and it’s been raining for what seems like weeks. Luckily with rain come wild mushrooms and wild mushrooms are very, very popular in Barcelona.
I often complain about the lack of basic produce in supermarkets here (green onions? fresh peas?), but wild mushrooms are one rare gem that appear in virtually every supermarket for an all-too-brief period of time in the fall.
On Tuesday and Friday evenings I attend a dance class and leave my husband in charge of dinner. He’s been complaining more and more about it as his repertoire of vegan dishes is somewhat limited.
Last Tuesday, however, he was quite proud of himself for preparing a quick sauté of camagrocs and young garlic shoots. He seemed super excited that it’s wild mushroom season (and that he can add one more dish to his vegan recipe repertoire for the next few months).
So a couple days later we headed down the street to our local veggie store and picked up four varieties of local wild mushrooms: camagroc, rossinyol, rovelló and fredolic (I was only intending to get two varieties for this recipe but he got so excited in the store and insisted we try some of each).
At the same store I also managed to get my hands on this huge-ass pumpkin. Contrary to wild mushrooms, pumpkins are not so easy to find in Barcelona (and canned pumpkin doesn’t exist). Butternut squash are everywhere but a real fat, round pumpkin usually requires a special trip to the market with someone strong to carry it home for you since parking at a market is impossible.
This pumpkin weighed more than seven kilos and cost more than ten euros. I foolishly handed it over to my husband to carry home, who delighted himself the whole way by repeatedly raising it over his head and asking “do you like Smashing Pumpkins?”
Luckily the pumpkin made it home in one piece and I’ve now got my entire winter’s supply of pumpkin for all the pumpkin spice lattes, pies and pumpkin curries my heart desires.
So this recipe for vegan pumpkin pasta sauce with wild mushrooms is the result of this week’s produce adventures. This recipe can, of course, be made with any variety of mushroom, wild or cultivated. Choose the varieties that you like and have available to you. And of course you don’t need to use fresh pumpkin either – canned will work just as well.
Vegan Pumpkin Pasta Sauce with Wild Mushrooms
Vegan pumpkin pasta sauce with wild mushrooms is an easy and healthy recipe filled with the flavours of autumn. An easy 4-ingredient pumpkin sauce tossed with pasta and topped with sautéed mushrooms, garlic and herbs will give you a filling and delicious 30-minute dinner for a chilly fall evening.
Ingredients
- ½ cup raw cashews
- 2 cups pumpkin puree, fresh or canned
- ½ cup vegetable stock
- 3 cloves of garlic, one whole and two minced, divided
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 250 grams (9 oz) of mixed mushrooms
- 2 shallots, minced
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- A pinch of salt and pepper
- 250 grams (9 oz) of pasta, any variety you like
- Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- Soak the cashews in hot water for 15 minutes until soft. Blend the cashews, pumpkin puree, vegetable stock, one whole clove of garlic and salt in a blender until smooth and creamy.
- Cook the pasta according to the package directions.
- Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Start with the larger varieties of mushroom. Spread them in a single layer in the pan and fry, without stirring, until golden brown – about 2 minutes. Stir and continue frying until golden on the other side. Remove to a plate and continue with the smaller varieties of mushroom. Remove to the plate with the other mushrooms then quickly fry the shallots, 2 minced cloves of garlic and thyme until soft and transparent. Combine with the fried mushrooms and sprinkle over some salt and pepper.
- Toss the pasta with the pumpkin sauce and fried mushrooms, reserving some mushrooms to decorate the top. Sprinkle over some fresh chopped parsley.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 2 Serving Size: 1 bowlAmount Per Serving: Calories: 661Total Fat: 31gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 23gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 1296mgCarbohydrates: 85gFiber: 16gSugar: 17gProtein: 20g
Karen White says
This pumpkin sauce sounds wonderful! Unfortunately I can't eat mushrooms but I'm sure I can come up with something else to top it with.
Melissa says
You could try some fried sage or a leafy green like spinach on top, maybe some hazelnuts...
Wilma says
Those mushrooms! Although you promoted this as a quick fall dinner, I see this as an elegant Thanksgiving Dinner. I'm thinking vegan artisan cheese tray for appetizer, an escarole walnut salad, and pear tart for dessert. Any suggestions?
Dorothy Milosevic says
I’ve never seen tinned pumpkin puree in the UK shops. I had some frozen butternut squash which I cooked and used instead. It worked really well. Very tasty and quick.
Stacy says
My husband and I recently watched some very disturbing food documentaries about the effects of animal products and processed foods on our health and environment and have made the decision to switch to a vegan lifestyle. However, most of the recipes I am finding have pasta in them and I cannot find any recipes (preferably so we can go unprocessed) or even any resources for vegan pasta that is not torture on a plate. All I can find is brown rice/quinoa pasta and it just does not compare to egg pasta which seems to be featured in every one of the recipes I am finding on all of the vegan sites, such as this one. Can anybody offer some insight as to whether the pasta featured in this photo is something other than an egg and white flour mixture pasta and if so, where I can find it? If anybody has a recipe for pasta that isn't gritty and doesn't go from crunchy to mush I will be ever so grateful if you would share it.
Melissa says
Hi Stacy! Most regular dried pasta is just semolina flour and water, no egg. The types that use egg in their pasta should be clearly indicated on the package. Fresh pasta, however, often has egg in it. Just take a look at the ingredients and you should be able to find egg-free pasta in most supermarkets.
gabriele says
is this good with spaghetti squash?
Amanda Rian says
Made with a teaspoon of curry powder, I don't think my squash was very good, and I had to use dried mushrooms based on the grocery store availability. Was super good!