VEGAN SPELT PASTA WITH MUSHROOMS, PEAS & CHIVE OIL, opt for common wheat

Peas, mushrooms & chive oil turn this healthy pasta into a star...

Something a little different but lively for pasta lovers!

67 has never been a great fan of conventional pasta due to issues with common wheat and spikes in blood sugar.  But this pasta dish is a winner!

To start with, it's made with spelt pasta - lower gluten, higher protein.  It's nutty, very tasty and surprisingly filling - but doesn't leave you feeling slightly drugged.  If you haven't any spelt pasta, any common wheat pasta, wholemeal or plain, will also work in this recipe.

Spelt Mushroom & Pea Pasta, created by 67, partners beautifully with Chive Oil posted elsewhere on the blog.  

Each mouthful was a delight.  Sadly 67 was out of parmesan (and this was a vegan recipe anyway) but if you're not vegan, parmesan would have been the icing on the cake.    

If you're a vegan with deep pockets, try truffles for an added kick of intensity.  Dried porcini mushrooms are also recommended. (Neither has been tested by 67.) 

Cost: £2.50 max, much less depending on what ingred are on hand
Feeds: 1, but multiples easily

Ingreds:

    80gm/2.8oz dried spelt or common wheat pasta
    
    75-100gm/3.5-2.6oz mushrooms, quartered
    juice of half a lemon
    olive oil
    pinch of thyme
    
    1/3 cup frozen peas
    
    3 tbsp Chive Oil
    pepper & salt, to taste
    
   Garnish: 
   Parmesan (opt)

Method:

1. Cook pasta in salted boiling water according to packet instructions or until al dente; reserve some pasta water
2. Meanwhile, heat a large frying pan over high heat, add olive oil and toss in mushrooms; stir till juice is  released & 'shrooms are half cooked.  Add lemon juice & thyme; reduce heat to med high; cook until all liquid is gone.  
3. Add frozen peas; stir quickly, reduce heat to med high
4. Use a slotted spoon to transfer pasta to the frying pan; toss until pasta and veg are well mixed. 
5. Add chive oil and a couple of tablespoons of pasta water until the pasta is glossy 
6. Turn into a warmed bowl
7. Add plant or dairy parmesan

Tip for spelt products:
More and more well-priced spelt products are appearing in health food and other shops.  You can buy spelt flakes for granola, puffed spelt - sweetened and unsweetened - for breakfast cereal and all manner and shapes of pasta*.  Even M&S is selling Spelt rigatoni from its Italian pasta producers, at a mere £2.29/500gms. 

*puffed & flaked spelt Planet Organic
 Biona spelt pastas  at Pomona, Belsize Park

More easy-peasy dishes: NavBar/Recipes I;

More spelt/non-common wheat: NavBar/Recipes II

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This recipe has been developed by B  Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises and may not be reproduced without the author's written permission.