Vegan Miso Pasta

This Japanese inspired pasta dish makes such a simple and quick, yet rich and satisfying dinner, with just five main ingredients in the main dish.

Cook Time: 15

Total Time: 15

Servings: servings

Ingredients

8 oz (225 g) spaghetti
¼ cup (56 g) vegan butter
⅛ cup (2 tbsp) miso
⅛ cup (2 tbsp) nutritional yeast
¾ cup (180 ml) pasta cooking water reserved when draining

Furikake seasoning (optional)

¼ cup (35 g) sesame seeds raw
1 sheet nori seaweed
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp sugar

Instructions

Cook pasta

Bring a large pan of salted water to boil, add the spaghetti and cook it on a steady rolling boil over medium-high heat until almost done, or just about al dente. For us, this typically takes about 9 minutes.

Furikake seasoning (optional)

While the pasta is cooking, prepare the furikake (sesame seaweed seasoning): Roughly crush the sesame seeds in a mortar and pestle or very briefly pulse in a food processor, to break them up but still leave some seeds whole.
Place the crushed sesame in a saucepan over medium to medium-high heat. Once hot and aromatic, toast for 1 - 2 minutes, while stirring frequently to not let them burn. Take of the heat immediately and place the toasted sesame in a small bowl.
Fold the sheet of nori several times, cut into thin strips and then cut again into small pieces. Then add them to the bowl with the sesame.
Add the salt and sugar and stir to combine.

Miso sauce

When the pasta is almost done (just a bit former than al dente), drain the spaghetti but reserve ¾ cups of the cooking water.
Add ½ cup of the reserved pasta water back in the pan, along with the vegan butter, miso and nutritional yeast. Whisk over medium heat until the butter is melted and everything is combined into a uniform liquid.
Add the drained pasta back into the pan with the liquid. use tongs to vigorously stir over low-medium heat for a few minutes, until the liquid emulsifies and smoothly and evenly coats the pasta.
If at any point the sauce gets too dry and the spaghetti sticks together a bit, stir in a bit extra pasta water to make it smooth and glossy again.
Serve immediately with a generous sprinkle of furikake.

Notes

Stir the pasta vigorously with the sauce. Yes, we absolutely mean it! Throwing the spaghetti round and round in the liquid is what makes it emulsify and turn it smooth and creamy.

Know when it's enough. Don’t overstir the pasta, or it might get too dry and stick together. If this happens, just stir in a bit more pasta water to make it saucy again.

How to tell when the sauce is emulsified enough? While stirring the pasta into the sauce, occasionally check how the sauce pools at the bottom of the pan. Stop stirring and take it off the heat when the liquid doesn’t pool, or only flows very slowly. The pasta should be nicely coated in a glossy sauce.

Store leftover furikake seasoning in a jar for up to 1 month.

Nutrition

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