Retro Saturday - Bean & Mushroom Pasta

Once again today's theme is Retro Saturday, where you dress up and veganise your favourite meal. I've always been a lover of pasta and whilst I was vegetarian I loved visiting Italian restaurants and devouring the creamiest pasta dishes. In the 25 years I was vegetarian that was a lot of visits to Italian restaurants. Since turning vegan, January 1st this year I haven't visited an Italian restaurant once, what can you eat as a vegan that you can't cook up at home just as delicious if not more so?

Today's recipe is creamy, without cream, extremely easy, quick and very tasty; even 5 meat eaters lapped it up when I cooked it up one camping trip.

I haven't posted many pasta recipes before, which is strange as I'm always cooking them as they are so easy and so quick to rustle up. Everyone will have something lurking in their store cupboard or fridge which can be transformed into a pasta dish. The two previous pasta dishes I've posted are garden pasta, which was rustled up from veg grown in the garden, hence the name and soba veganaise, which is a great recipe to use when you need to use up your vegetables lurking in the bottom of your fridge. Anyway on with today's recipe. 

Bean and Mushroom Pasta 
I am still harvesting green beans, from my garden, not many I grant you but they keep coming!

Ingredients
150g Green beans
150g Mushrooms
1 Onion
1 Courgette (optional)
2 Spring onions
1 Tbsp Olive oil
1 Tbsp Flour
1 Tsp Vegetable bouillon powder
500ml Soy milk or other alternative
2 Tbsp Nutritional yeast
2 Tsp English mustard
1 Tsp Dried parsley
½ Tsp Dried thyme 
400g Pasta

Method - serves 4-5
Prepare all the vegetables so you're ready to cook, top and tail the beans and cut to 5cm lengths, slice the courgette, spring onions, mushrooms and onion.

Bring a saucepan of water to the boil and add the pasta of choice, cook as per the packet instructions. Drain just before you add the sauce.

Saute the onion until translucent about 5 minutes, and add the beans, continue to saute stirring regularly so the vegetables don't stick to the pan. Add a little water if they start sticking. After 5 minutes the beans should start to become tender so add the mushrooms, courgette and spring onions and saute for another 2 minutes.

Sprinkle the vegetables with the flour, herbs and vegetable bouillon powder (I use Marigold Swiss vegetable) and stir to combine. Continue to cook for about 30 seconds whilst turning the mixture with a spoon.

Add the soy milk slowly, a bit at a time, continually stirring until the mixture becomes sauce like thick. You may need to add more soy milk or not as much it depends on the age and type of the flour you are using. Add the mustard and stir through, then the nutritional yeast and stir again. 

Season to taste and tip in the drained pasta a little at a time and stir to incorporate the sauce and pasta. Serve with salad or as I did with a side of runner beans! I actually cooked the sauce at home and boxed it up. Then all I needed to do was cook the pasta at the camp site, heat up the sauce and combine - easy! The bottom photo was the left overs after first helpings, but as soon as I'd taken the photo the saucepan was gone and the 'leftovers' were on plates being gobbled up!