Vegan Sausage Pasta
Vegan Sausage Pasta is a quick and simple meal but deceptively delicious!
Its a perfect midweek meal for those busy days or even for inspiring kids to help out with dinner!
I used plant-based vegan Richmond sausages which are I think one of the best vegan sausages available. As a family we don’t eat shop-bought vegan sausages that often perhaps every couple of months. I prefer to make my own sausages or patties.
However, I can’t recommend the Richmond sausages enough especially if you are new to plant-based/vegan cooking.
Also, kids probably will not be able to tell the difference between meat sausages and vegan Richmond sausages.
But the difference is major as vegan ones are much kinder and way more tasty.
Although, for this recipe any vegan sausage that you like will do perfectly well. Also try vegan meatballs or even sliced up vegan burgers if that’s all you have.
Alternatively sub out the vegan sausages for a tin of mixed beans especially ones that have creamy borlotti or cannellini beans. Yum!
Vegan Sausage Pasta Recipe
Vegan Sausage Pasta
A traditional midweek, quick, simple, meal popular with everyone!
Equipment
- Saucepan for boiling pasta
- Saucepan or sauté pan for cooking tomato sauce
Ingredients
- 170 grams bell/capsicum peppers, chopped small. I used a mix of yellow and red peppers or about 2 cups
- 120 grams mushrooms, fine chopped or about 1 and 1/2 cups. I fine chop my mushrooms very small as my son does not like the texture of mushrooms. When chopped very small he doesn't even notice them!
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder, or 3-4 cloves chopped I was creating this recipe as I was cooking it and was short of time, so to save time I decided to add garlic powder instead of cloves.
- 1 whole onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon tomato puree
- 500 grams tomato passata This was one standard packet. Alternatively use 1 or 2 tins of chopped tomatoes. I just prefer the smoother texture and taste passata tends to gives the sauce.
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon mild chilli powder Use extra, less or none! Just go with your family's preference.
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika Or use ordinary paprika. I just love the smokiness that smoked paprika gives!
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano Or use a tsp of dried herbs
- 1 teaspoon dried herbs
- 1/2 (half) vegan stock/bouillon cube Or use a teaspoon of stock powder. I use the vegan Marigold stock cubes.
- 1 teaspoon sugar This is just to balance out the tomato flavours if they are a little bitter. I use maple syrup. But you can use any type of sugar you have to hand. Or your sauce may not need any at all.
- 1 heaped tablespoon plant-based cream cheese, optional This addition is optional but does lend the sauce a nice creaminess. Use a good shop bought variety or homemade.
- 340 grams dried pasta I used a mix of white pasta and wholemeal pasta. My kids prefer the white but I like the wholemeal so its a compromise! Use any pasta your family likes and cook it according to the packet instructions. I found 340 grams was enough for 4 servings but again adjust quantities according to your family's needs.
- 1 packet vegan/plant-based sausages I used vegan Richmond and there was 8 sausages in the packet enough for 4 portions.
- 1 and a 1/2 cups water and a little more as and when needed during the recipe. Or 375ml.
Instructions
- Cook the vegan sausages according to the packet instructions. For my vegan Richmond sausages I preheated the oven to 170 fan/190 Celsius/375 Fahrenheit/Gas 5. And roasted for 25 minutes turning the sausages half way. Once ready set aside.
- Over a medium-high heat add 1 cup/250ml of water and the stock cube to a large pan. Bring to the boil and add the onion, peppers and mushrooms.Lower heat to medium.
- Cook for about 5 minutes. Add another half cup of water if it looks like the pan is running dry.
- Add tomato puree, oregano, mixed herbs, chilli powder, paprika. Mix.
- Pour in the tomato passata, and add the red wine vinegar.Add a half cup/125ml of water.
- Turn heat to low and simmer.While the sauce is simmering cook your pasta according to the packet instructions.
- Chop up the sausages. Stir in the vegan cream cheese, if using, into the sauce.Taste your sauce, and add salt and pepper as desired.Mix sausages in with the sauce.
- Simmer for a few more minutes and if you think the sauce is too thick just add a splash of water to loosen it up.
- Serve and enjoy!
Recipe notes:
- Look out for mushrooms and peppers in the reduced section of your local shops. Wash, chop and dry, then freeze for later use. Doing this saves money and time!
- I always fine chop mushrooms for a dish as my son hates the texture. Its a good way to get vegetables into a fussier eater without pureeing the vegetable. And he has not discovered that there are mushrooms in his much loved Vegan Sausage Pasta dinner! He wouldn’t mind too much anyway, I think! Besides the mushrooms add so much flavour and nutritional benefits it would be a loss to leave them out.
Chopped mushrooms! - Add a sprinkle of nutritional yeast at the end for a cheezie flavour. My son loves this!
- If you have a packet of fresh basil needing used up, then chop and mix through the finished dish. It will be delicious! I had this thought after my sauce was ready but unfortunately I did not have a bag to hand. I usually look out for reduced herb packets in my local supermarket and then just freeze in their bag until I need them. Its easy to chop herbs when they are frozen and just throw in a dish. They defrost so quick!
- For a homemade oil/fat free cream cheese try the BBC Food recipe. This is the plant-based cream cheese I used and its available in Asda, UK:
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