Vegan Spaghetti ai Funghi (Spaghetti and Mushrooms in Vegan Cream Sauce)

Step 1

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta in salted water according to package directions, within one minute of being perfectly cooked, as you'll finish cooking it in the sauce. Before draining the pasta, reserve about 1 cup of the cooking water.

Step 2

Place all cream sauce ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Set aside.

Step 3

In a large skillet or heavy bottomed pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Prepare a plate by lining with paper towels and set next to the pan. Fry the dried sage leaves in the oil for about 15 seconds (you want to take them out before they start to turn black in spots), then remove them with a slotted spoon and place on the paper towel lined tray and sprinkle with a pinch of salt, then set aside until ready to serve. The sage leaves will splutter a little when they hit the hot oil, so be careful. If you don't want to deal with making crispy sage, just chop up the fresh sage and add it alongside the garlic and crushed red pepper.

Step 4

Turn the heat down to medium-low and using the same oil for frying the sage, add the sliced mushrooms with a pinch of salt. Cook for 5-7 minutes, or until the mushrooms have released their water, and are turning golden. Add the garlic, crushed red pepper, and the 1/4 tsp of salt (and sage if not making crispy sage), and cook for 1-2 minutes until the garlic turns golden. If needed add a teaspoon of olive oil. Turn off the heat until the pasta is done cooking.

Step 5

Add the cooked pasta to the skillet along with the sauce and a splash of pasta water and more freshly ground black pepper. Turn the heat on to medium and stir to coat the pasta and mushrooms in sauce. Stirring constantly, allow the pasta to cook in the sauce or about 2 minutes, or until the sauce thickly coats the noodles and the spaghetti reaches its perfect finish. Add more pasta water if needed, I used about 1/2 cup in total. Turn off the heat and serve immediately.

Step 6

Serve topped with crispy sage, and more black pepper (if desired).