Vegan Cacio e Pepe Spaghetti

39g protein

Recipe by Nikoleta, vegan cook and author of every recipe in the Tofu app · @surovadcerka

Ingredients

sauce

• 200 g spaghetti
• 1/2 tbsp black peppercorns (whole)
• 30 g vegan butter
• 200 ml soy cooking cream
• 200 ml pasta cooking water
• 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp lemon juice

topping

• vegan cheese
• 200 g smoked tempeh
• 100 g mixed vegetables (optional)
• 1 tbsp canola oil

Contains: gluten, soy

How to make it

1. Bring well-salted water to a boil in a large pot and cook the spaghetti.
2. Toast the whole black peppercorns in a dry pan over medium heat for 30-60 seconds until lightly fragrant.
3. Finely grind or crush the peppercorns in a mortar.
4. Melt the butter in the pan, then stir in the ground black pepper, cooking cream, pasta water, and nutritional yeast.
5. Bring the sauce to a boil and season with salt (taste first and use less if your pasta water was already well salted) and lemon juice.
6. Feel free to add a handful or more of your favorite vegan cheese, or skip it entirely.
7. In a separate pan, sauté tempeh and vegetables if you’d like to add something extra to the spaghetti. I recommend finely chopping smoked tempeh and frying it until crispy in a little oil if you want extra protein. It will serve as a crispy “bacon” on top.
8. Drain the spaghetti, toss it with the sauce, and serve with vegan parmesan or nutritional yeast and tempeh.

Nutrition