The base of this sauce is cooked cauliflower. Cauliflower seems to be very expensive right now. If you can find it, frozen cauliflower will work just as well as fresh. I have even made this sauce with peeled and chopped zucchini instead of the cauliflower with great results.
The secret to the great mushroom flavour is powdered dried Shitake mushrooms. Shitake mushrooms have a strong smoky flavour and aroma that doesn't easily get washed out with cooking. For a milder flavour, try another mushroom such as dried Porcini mushrooms. I buy dried mushrooms in little 14 gram / 1/2 ounce bags at my grocery store and blend them to a powder in my blender before adding the rest of the sauce ingredients.
Any unsweetened non-dairy milk will work. I tend to use soy milk as some members of my family are sensitive to nuts.
Chickpea flour is my favourite gluten-free flour for thickening gravies or sauces. Garfava flour works equally well. My next choice would be brown rice flour.
The sauce comes together quickly. Once you boil the cauliflower, start cooking the pasta and everything should be ready to assemble by the time the pasta is cooked.
makes 4 - 6 servings
2 generous cups of cauliflower florets, fresh or frozen
2 cups water
1 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk (I used soy)
14 gram / 1/2 ounce package dried Shitake mushrooms
1/4 cup gluten-free chickpea or garfava flour
2 Tablespoons gluten-free tamari
2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 cups cooked or 1 can white kidney or Cannelini beans, drained and rinsed
454 grams / 1 pound mushrooms sliced (any kind)
454 grams / 1 pound gluten-free pasta (I used rotini)
parsley, to taste, minced
fresh lemon juice, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste
Preheat the same saucepan you used to cook the cauliflower over medium heat and add the sliced mushrooms and a couple of Tablespoons of water. Cook until the mushrooms have softened, about 5 minutes. Add the cayenne pepper, dried oregano, dried thyme and white beans. Add the sauce and gently simmer, stirring frequently, until thickened and the flavour of the bean flour has cooked out of the sauce, about another 5 minutes. |
To your health and happiness,
Beans and Rice