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Buongiorno I am Chef Nico, welcome
to our channel Italia Plant Based. Here we cook
traditional Italian recipes
that are 100% vegan! Today we're cooking
3 classic spaghetti dishes that you can cook
in 10 minutes, or about the time needed to boil
the pasta. Spaghetti al pomodoro,
Spaghetti aglio olio e peperoncino, and our
vegan take on spaghetti
cacio e pepe.
We start with spaghetti al pomodoro.
To make the sauce extra thick and
tasty in a short time
we're going to use 2 types of tomatoes:
date tomatoes and whole canned peeled tomatoes,
extra virgin olive oil, garlic,
basil, hot chili pepper if you like it,
and bronze cut spaghetti.
In a large pot we put
the water to boil with a
lid so that it boils faster, then
we cut the date tomatoes in half. We use
date tomatoes because they cook fast
and because they have a sweet taste
that balances out the acidity in canned tomatoes.
In a large pan, we add the oil, then
crush the garlic and add it to
the pan while the oil is warming up.
Don't let the garlic burn otherwise
it'll release a bitter flavour that
is going to ruin our pasta. When the oil is
hot we add the hot chili and
the date tomatoes. Cook them on
high heat for 2 to 3 minutes, then
add the canned tomatoes,
and lower the heat down to low.
Mash the canned tomatoes with a fork
and let cook, stirring occasionally
till the pasta is ready.
Now the water should be boiling.
Take off the lid,
then add the coarse sea salt
and the spaghetti. Gently push down
the spaghetti in the water, without
breaking them, then stir them and
let cook for 8 minutes, or
4 minutes less than the time
suggested on the package.
We'll finish cooking them in the pan
with the tomato sauce
so that we use the starch that the pasta
releases, to make the sauce
extra creamy, without having to use
butter or cheese. While our
pasta is cooking, make sure that the
sauce doesn't stick to the pan, and
add some extra pasta water if required.
At this point, add
two pinches of salt to the sauce,
and the basil leaves.
When the pasta is ready, remove
the garlic from the sauce,
and add the spaghetti to the pan with the
tomatoes. My advice is to avoid draining the
pasta in the sink with a sieve, because
1) it dries out, and 2) the pasta
cooking water is super important
to make the sauce creamy,
so don't throw it out.
No that the pasta is in the pan
finish cooking with the tomato
sauce, adding more pasta water
one ladle at a time,
without drowning it in water.
Gently mix it with the sauce and
you'll see that after a couple of minutes
the pasta releases the starch in the
sauce, making it creamy, so that
it will stick to the spaghetti.
This is another reason why we use
bronze cut spaghetti. They release
more starch, and their rugged surface
helps the sauce stick.
If the pasta gets too dry
add some extra pasta
cooking water.
We are ready. The pasta is "al dente"
with a perfect bite to it.
Now we turn off the heat, and add
some extra virgin olive oil to bring the
dish together. Give it an extra stir, and plate it.
To plate spaghetti, you can use a ladle
to create the classic nest of spaghetti
Put it on a plate,
add some tomato sauce on top,
a couple of basil leaves
to garnish, and your pasta
is ready!
This pasta al pomodoro is
easy to make and rich of umami
released by the tomatoes, and coated
in a creamy sauce, thanks to the starch
released from the pasta. It has a
perfect flavour and in my opinion
is the king of comfort food.
But now let's make spaghetti aglio olio.
Another pasta dish we'll never get tired of.
The ingredients for this are: bronze cut
spaghetti, organic garlic, extra virgin
olive oil, chili flakes,
but you can also use
dry or fresh chili,
and flat-leaf parsley.
Yes, we add parsley
because we think it fits perfectly.
First, we put the water
for the pasta to boil.
Then we prep the ingredients:
cut out the parsley stems, then
cut the leaves finely. Peel the garlic,
cut it in half, and remove the stem
because it's too strong for this recipe.
Then we chop it finely. We like it
with a lot of garlic, so we put in
one garlic clove per person.
Now the water for the pasta should
be boiling. Salt it with coarse sea salt,
then add in the spaghetti.
Then in a large pan, add the
olive oil, about 2 tbsp per person,
and the finely minced garlic.
Warm up the oil on low heat,
then when the garlic starts to fry
turn off the heat,
and let cook the garlic with the
residual heat of the pan.
Now turn the heat back on
and when the garlic starts to fry again,
add the chili flakes.
Cook for 20 seconds, then
turn off the heat, and add the
finely chopped parsley. Stir well,
and let fry with the residual
heat of the oil. Here you go.
Our sauce for aglio olio is ready.
It's important to follow these steps
so that garlic, oil, chili and parsley
won't burn, or else
our pasta will taste bitter,
and most importantly, it will be unhealthy!
In this recipe as well, we should cook
the pasta 4 minutes less than suggested
on the pasta package, for the same
reason as before. And as usual,
don't drain the pasta in the sink,
but rather take it out of the pot
with tongues, and add it to the pan still wet.
Then when the pasta is in the pan,
add a scoop of pasta water, turn on the
heat on medium low, and finish
cooking in the sauce.
Cook the pasta until it's "al dente".
You'll see how creamy it gets this way.
If necessary, add more pasta water,
of course, without overdoing it.
When the pasta is al dente, you can plate it.
Serve it with a sprinkle of
chopped parsley on top. This recipe
is irresistible if well done!
Everyone will love it! We ended up
eating the whole pan the two of us.
Let's end this compilation with
a vegan cacio e pepe. Nowadays
vegan cheese has reached
a very high quality texture and flavour
and have become a valid alternative
to traditional cheese.
Ours is a cheese made with
mainly almonds and water
and when heated up it melts
beautifully, much better than parmesan or
pecorino.
Obviously I am biased, so try it
yourself, and let me know what you think!
So for this recipe we need:
bronze cut spaghetti,
vegan cheese - about 40 g per person
like in the original recipe -
and black pepper corns.
As usual we start by putting the
water to boil, then prep the cheese.
If you have a vegan cheese
that is grated in large pieces,
then we suggest blitzing it up first
so that it turns into a grated parmesan
consistency so that it
melts better. Then toast the pepper
on a hot pan, without any liquids.
Toast the pepper corns whole,
for 2 to 3 minutes, or until you can smell
the pepper aroma. Once toasted,
put it in a mortar and turn it into a dust.
The smell of ground pepper is incredible!
if you don't have a mortar,
then crush it on a cutting board
with the bottom of a small pot.
What's important is that you toast it
so that the oils of the pepper
will release all of the aroma.
Then when the water boils,
salt it and add the pasta in. In this recipe
as well, we cook it 4 minutes less than
suggested on the pasta package,
you'll see that in most pasta preparations
it's best to cook the pasta less,
so that you can finish it directly in the pan.
While the pasta cooks,
put the vegan cheese on a pan,
add a ladle of pasta cooking water
and melt the cheese on low heat.
Stir often with a wooden spoon
and you'll see that in just a couple of minutes
the vegan cheese will turn creamy.
Look at it. It's beautiful!
The cheese has no lumps,
you just need to stir a bit,
and if necessary add some more pasta water.
It's really very easy to do this.
Then when the cheese is all creamy,
add the black pepper, and stir well
for a few more seconds. When the
pepper is embedded in the sauce
turn off the heat, but keep stirring,
adding more pasta water if necessary.
When the pasta is ready,
or better, when cooked 4 minutes less than suggested,
add it to the pan. Like before,
it is best not to drain the water, but rather
take out the pasta with tongues. The add
a ladle of pasta cooking water to the pan
and on low heat, mix gently
till the pasta is cooked
"al dente" - with a bite to it.
In this final phase you will have to add
more pasta cooking water as the pasta
absorbs it. But don't add too much.
You should aim for a cacio e pepe
that is super creamy, but not liquid.
The starch released by the pasta
will help the sauce bind with the pasta.
After a few minutes the pasta is ready
to be served and devoured.
Well, we finished this one in one go
and we had to make a second portion
to take the pictures
for our blog.
I really cannot resist a cacio e pepe
like this one!
Ok, I'll be honest. In all my life as
a non vegan Italian
I've never had a cacio and pepe
as good as this one, creamy, cheesy, and
with a perfect pepper aroma, so
in my opinion there are no excuses to
try it immediately. If you liked our
video click LIKE or leave us a comment
below!
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You can also find all our recipes
in ENGLISH and with STEP by STEP
instructions on our site
www.italiaplantbased.com
Buon appetito & c u next time!
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