Kristie’s Vegan Vodka Pasta with Gardein Meatballs
Vegan Vodka Pasta with Gardein Meatballs is one of our favorite, simple, delicious, and comforting foods when we feel like eating Italian, Grab you these simple ingredients and let’s get goin!
Vegan Vodka Pasta with Gardein Meatballs is one of our favorite, simple, delicious, and comforting foods when we feel like eating Italian, Grab you these simple ingredients and let's get goin!
| Prep Time | 15 minutes |
| Cook Time | 10 minutes |
| Passive Time | 3 minutes |
| Servings |
servings
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Ingredients
- 1.5 jar Your favorite pasta sauce We prefer Newman's Own 'Sockarooni'.
- 1 package (12.7oz) Gardein classic meatless meatballs You can substitute the meatballs with Gardein Beefless Ground if you desire.
- 1 box Farfalle (bowtie) Pasta Any brand will do! Use penne, spaghetti, shells, campanelle, bucatini, orechiette...whatever floats your boat.
- 1/2 cup vodka We used Smirnoff this time. We had plenty left over from our wedding
- 1/2 cup vegan cream cheese We used some Kite Hill Classic in this receipe.
- 1 cup plant based milk Love me some Califa!
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast Get you some Braggs and get your VitB's on!
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil for browning meatballs and to add to water for pasta
Ingredients
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Instructions
- Put some water in a pot, add a pinch of salt, and some olive oil. Bring you a pot of H20 to a slow boil. We ain't gonna cook the past just yet. We want to wait until the vodka sauce is prepared so the pasta is nice and al dente, so set it aside.
- Add some oil to a pan (we use a non-stick wok because you can prepare the meatballs and sauce together without having to use separate pots and pans. Add the Gardein meatballs to the pan and brown them summabitches up by rolling them around in the oil every minute or so. Make sure to brown them on all sides to get a nice crispy crust on em. When they are looking a bit tan, remove them from the oil and place on a plate with some paper towel to drain.
- Take the empty pot and turn it down to medium heat. Add that pasta sauce, then the 'milk', and scoop you out a nice helping of that vegan cream cheese and dump it in there! Don't worry about having separate lumps of cream cheese up in there...cause that makes it nice and more professional looking and adds a bit of texture and a bit of...je ne sais quoi... to the sauce.
- Add vodka to the pot with the sauce. Be careful not to spill onto the stove! That shit will blow up and set stuff on fire. We don't need you to lose any eyebrows in the making of this dish!
- Add the nutritional yeast, and all the other ingredients. Stir until mixed well...but do not stir too much so you keep them nice clumps of cream cheese in there.
- Taste, and add more seasoning if you need to. Just lay off the salt will ya? I have high blood pressure and the shit makes my head hurt. Ain't nobody got time for that!
- Once you got the sauce going, take them, ahem...balls... and place them back into the pot along with the sauce. Be careful not to splash the sauce everywhere. I hate splattered sauce all over the place!
- Turn the sauce and meatballs down to low heat to continue simmering as you prepare the pasta.
- Cook the pasta per instruction on the box. Make sure not to overcook it. Like I said earlier, you want to keep that shit al dente. It will continue to cook after it is drained.
- Grab you a plate and start plating this delicious concoction! Throw some Basil on the top and you are good to go. Now...some people like to add their cooked pasta to the sauce in the same pot. Uh uh! Not us! I find it dries everything out and you don't taste the sauce as it is meant to be. All them starches up in there will ruin it! It's O.K. for leftovers...but just not for the initial serving. It is also classier to pour the sauce OVER the pasta while plating. So have some class and do it our way!
Recipe Notes
We love some toasty, garlicy, crunchy, garlic bread to eat alongside our pasta. Keep it vegan and use some Earth Balance spread instead of butter.
Now sit down, grab the remote, find an episode of Seinfeld, and mangiare come un maiale!
4 Responses
What’s the brand/type of bread in the pic? This meal looks delicious! Thanks.
Susan, thank you.
This bread is the Multi Grain bread made fresh in the bakery at Publix.
We just ‘butter’ it with Smart Balance spread and garlic powder.
Gardein.
Sorry. The bread is a simple French baguette from Publix.