NEVER ENOUGH GARLIC

Carbonara is simply one of most amazing dishes ever, but almost none of the ingredients are vegan, and a lot of people like to add chicken to it, which obviously isn't vegan either. So we changed everything and made a super easy and incredibly delicious vegan carbonara recipe with vegan "chicken" chunks and spiced button mushrooms. So if you're vegan, vegetarian, allergic to eggs and dairy or lactose intolerant and love carbonara, here is the perfect recipe for you. Oh, and it only takes about 30 minutes, so it's the ideal quick weekday dinner!

Ingredients:

• 500 g (18 oz) of spaghetti 
  

• 400 ml (14 fl. oz) plant-based cream* - save the carton
• 200 ml (0.85 cups) water
• 200 g (7 oz) brown button mushrooms
• 2 cubes of vegetable stock
• 1-2 dl (0.4-0.8 cups) of nutritional yeast (depending on how cheesy you like your carbonora)
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 tbsp. vegan bacon spice (we used Deliciou) or 2 tbsp of smoked paprika
  
• 1 tsp. ground pepper
• 1 onion
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 320 g (11.3 oz) vegan chicken chunks (we used Hälsan Kök) 
• Olive oil for frying

* We used Organic Oat Cream with 9.8% fat, but soy or rice based alternatives work just as well.

Instructions:

1. Clean the button mushrooms, chop them in halves, and toss them in a pan with olive oil. Set the pan to medium heat.
2. Finely chop the onion and toss it in the pan with the button mushrooms.
3. Crush the garlic cloves and toss them in the pan. 
4. Add the vegan chicken chunks and the vegan bacon spice or smoked paprika.
5. When everything in the pan is golden, add the plant-based cream. Fill the cream carton(s) with the 200 ml (0.85 cups) of water and shake, then pour the water in the pan. 
6. Add the lemon juice, nutritional yeast, pepper, and 1 cube of vegetable stock, and bring it all to a boil. Let it simmer on low to medium heat while you get on with the next steps.
   
7. Bring a pot of water to a boil with 1 cube of vegetable stock in it for extra flavour, and cook the pasta in the veggie stock water until al dente (with a slight bite to it) according to the instructions on the pasta packet. This usually takes about 10-12 minutes. Meanwhile, remember to stir the sauce.
8. By the time your pasta is done, your sauce should be creamy and delicious.
9. Discard the pasta water, and mix the pasta and the sauce together and serve immediately.
10. Enjoy. You'll love it.