Delicious Vegan Pesto Pasta with Crispy Mushrooms

This is one of my favorite pasta dishes. Creamy Vegan Pesto Pasta topped with Crispy Mushrooms. My homemade savory and creamy basil almond pesto tossed with perfectly cooked penne, along with crisp & tender green beans and peas all topped off with pan crisped flavor packed king oyster mushrooms. I am manifesting summer already!

But seriously though, this dish is perfect for any time of the year and any meal of the day! There can be so much beauty in simplicity, and this pesto pasta recipe is here to prove it. It uses easy to find and simple ingredients that are so quick and easy to put together yet tastes like a million bucks! Refreshingly light yet so comforting, it’s so good! I can not wait for you to try this one.

I made my own pesto for this recipe, but you can certainly used store bought as well. I would highly recommend trying my recipe though, because homemade pesto just hit differently! The flavor pops and adds so much freshness to this peso pasta.

Making your own Basil- Almond pesto

They key to amazing vegan pesto is fresh and high quality extra virgin olive oil, really fresh basil, and nutritional yeast. If you haven’t worked with nutritional yeast, I highly recommend it as a pantry ingredient to buy and store! They’re not the usual baking yeast, they’re deactivated and resemble flakes that are yellow, and taste and smell nutty and cheesy!

They are the perfect substitute to make dairy free recipes taste like cheese. Added bonus: they are nutritional powerhouses! They are a great source of protein and vitamin B12. You’ll also need garlic, toasted almonds, vegan parmesan which is optional, some salt and pepper.

This is a basic basil pesto recipe, you can change it up however you like. You can use cilantro, or even arugula or broccoli, in addition to basil. You could use any kind of nuts that work for you. I also recommend using a food processor or high powered blender to make the perfect textured pesto.

Making the pesto pasta

This couldn’t be simpler to put together once you have the pesto made. I prepare some green beans and peas, blanch them in boiling water for a few minutes just until they are tender still bright green and set aside. In the same pot of water, cook your pasta per package instructions and set aside. I’ve used a red lentil penne today for extra nourishment, but you can use any pasta you’d like. Toss the pasta, veggies, and pesto all together with some pepper. And they’re ready.

While these are perfect to eat as is, I love this next step of adding crispy mushrooms. They’re a game changer!

How to make Crispy King Oyster Mushrooms

King Oyster mushrooms are hands down my favorite kind of mushrooms to cook with and eat! They’re mild in flavor making it a perfect mushroom for you even if you don’t like mushrooms! They’re texture is beautiful. They stay firm, yet become really tender when cooked and offer incredible texture and heartiness to any dish. To make them look as beautiful as they taste, I scored them so they open up when cooked and soak up any flavor they’re paired with!

Once all the components are ready, toss them all together, let it sit at room temperature for 20 minutes for flavors to meld together and this pesto pasta is ready to serve! They taste great served warm or room temperature.

If you make this recipe, please leave a comment, pin it, and share with your people.

You can also find me on Instagram @supriyaramankitchen.

Delicious Vegan Pesto Pasta with Crispy Mushrooms

Serves: 6 Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cooking Time: 30 Minutes 30 Minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 1 voted )

Pin

Print

Ingredients

1 pound, red lentil penne
3 cups fresh green beans, ends trimmed and chopped
1 cup green peas
1 tsp coarse salt
2 tsp red chilli flakes
1/2 to 3/4 cup (your preference of sauciness) prepared basil almond pesto

Basil almond pesto:
3 cups fresh basil leaves
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup unsalted almonds (slivered or chopped)
1/2 cup dairy-free/ plant-based parmesan
1/4 cup nutritional yeast (highly recommend)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp red chilli flakes
1 tsp coarse salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Topping:
2 king oyster mushrooms, sliced into discs
2 tbsp oil
2 tsp red chilli flakes
1 tsp salt

Instructions

 

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the beans and peas and cook no more than 3 or 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon remove them and place in a large mixing bowl.

In the still boiling water, add a good amount of salt, and drop the pasta in. Cook pasta per package instructions. Mine took about 7 minutes. Drain the pasta and add into the bowl with the blanched beans and peas.

Let's make pesto: Add the basil, garlic, almonds, parmesan, red chilli flakes and nutritional yeast to a food processor or blend and pulse a few times until coarsely chopped. While the food processor is running, gradually add the olive oil. Mix in salt and pepper.

Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of the pesto into the pasta and veggies and toss to mix. Add 1/2 tsp more salt and red chilli flakes. Mix everything together thoroughly.  Serve with more basil on top.

This is perfect to eat as is, but my favorite topping which I highly recommend are these gorgeously crispy king oyster mushrooms. The combo is so good!

Let's make crispy mushrooms:
Slice king oyster mushrooms into 2" discs. Place them in a mixing bowl along with oil, salt and chilli flakes. Toss together and massage each piece so the flavor infuses.

Use a sharp paring knife and score the mushrooms making a criss-cross pattern on both sides. Do this gently and be careful not to puncture the mushroom through. The scoring should be just on the surface. This creates space for the mushrooms to become extra crispy when cooked.

Heat a pan with oil. Place the mushrooms evenly spaced and crisp for 5 minutes, drizzle a bit more oil on it. Crisp for 2-3 minutes, flip and cook another 3 minutes on the other side. Repeat this process again until both sides are golden brown and crispy. And they're done.

Top over prepared pesto pasta and enjoy!

If you make this recipe, please leave a comment and share it with your people.

If you love this recipe,

also try

Sauteed Green Beans with Garlic