Carbonara, and a Giveaway from Lightlife

Is it getting cooler where you live? Do you need some comfort food on this dreary November day? Let me make you some carbonara. I should say that when creating this recipe, I used a carbonara recipe from The Urban Vegan as a starting point, but it's now significantly different. For the bacon component, I used a package of Smart Bacon, diced into about 1/3-inch pieces. It really tightened up and had a practically ground beef consistency.

Pasta Carbonara

1 T. arrowroot
1 1/2 c. unsweetened non-dairy milk (I used hemp milk)

2/3 lb. pasta (I used penne)

6 oz. package of vegan bacon, diced
olive oil
1/2 c. white wine
1/3 c. vegan butter
3 T. nutritional yeast
1 c. green peas
Black salt and black pepper to taste
vegan parmesan or additional nutritional yeast for serving.

Heat a large pot of water on the stove--do this first so it can come to a boil as you make the sauce. Whisk the arrowroot with the milk and set it aside.

Heat a bit of olive oil, say half a teaspoon, in a saucepan. Cook it till it's nicely browned, about five or six minutes. Don't worry if some of it sticks and browns, because you're going to deglaze the pan now by adding the wine. Stir and scrape up the browned bits, and continue cooking till the wine is absorbed, an additional five minutes. Remove the bacon to a side bowl or plate. By now, your water should be boiling, so throw in some black salt, add the pasta, and keep an eye on it while you make the sauce.

In the same saucepan, melt your butter. Add the nutritional yeast and non-dairy milk-arrowroot mixture, making sure that the arrowroot is fully dissolved. Stir to combine, and simmer until thickened, about five minutes. Add the bacon and continue cooking for three minutes. Now add the peas, and cook an additional two minutes. Remove from heat.

Your pasta should be done by now, so drain it, return it to the pot, and toss it with the sauce. Taste it for salt and pepper. The black salt is important, as it is the secret to lending the carbonara a traditional eggy flavor.

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Because I happened to make the carbonara with Smart Bacon, let's have today's giveaway be from Lightlife! I have two coupons, each good for a free Lightlife product. To enter, please leave a post below, telling me your about a light in your life, or a lamp next to you, or anything at all. This giveaway is open to anyone who can get Lightlife products. The coupons do not specify where they can be used, so enter if you can buy Lightlife where you live! If you're just meandering over here for the first time, please know that these giveaways are happening every day of Vegan MoFo, and each of them lasts one day. Please note also that if you're not checking back to see if you have won and don't have a visible profile enabled, I may have no way to contact you if you win!

The winners of yesterday's Soy Curls giveaway are Seglare, seitanismymotor, HayMarket8, panda with cookie, and K! Congratulations to you all! Please send your name and address to me at miso...@yahoo.com. (<---make sure to click on the . . . link for the rest of the email address. This is a spam avoidance thing.)