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Vegan Brown Butter Walnut and Tarragon Farfalle

THAT’S NOT SAGE, its TARRAGON!​

When I first dreamt up this pasta the intention was to create it with sage. Let me set the stage.  It’s a rainy, blustery Sunday evening in Toronto.  The mister is on the couch chatting with his son over FaceTime and I am prepping away.  The rain is intense but we are cozy and dry, perfect night for a pasta feed.  I go upstairs to my terrace to pick some sage leaves and that’s when I realize they are past all hope and not usable for my recipe.  I head back down the stairs and lament to the mister our sage is dead. He valiantly responds “I can go to the store”.  He takes off with son still on FaceTime and trudges to our local grocery store.  Upon his return I am sautéing brown butter and walnuts.  He is still on said FaceTime but drops what he thinks is sage on the counter.  I say THANK YOU and he disappears to finish his conversation. I take one look at the herbs and say THAT’S NOT SAGE, its TARRAGON! And this is how this insanely tasty pasta was born. 

What is Tarragon?

Tarragon is an herb I don’t cook with often.  It has a slightly liquorice flavour and I found a lot in French cooking.  It is usually accompanied with white wine, butter, cream and quite often chicken or mussels.  Well I am very pleased to announce it is also gorgeous with vegan butter and walnuts so here we are.

Mistakes aren’t mistakes in the kitchen. I mean sure, you can have some unfortunate outcomes but I try to look at all botched recipes as learning experiences. Even the best of us can still have an off day, a missed ingredient, or in my case a totally different flavour profile but sometimes you get lucky and in this instance, I did. Sometimes I surprise myself when making a recipe. I know I am a good cook and even think of myself as a chef BUT THIS PASTA was a whole other level. Yes, that’s the sound of me tooting my own horn.

A bowl of Vegan Brown Butter Walnut and Tarragon Farfalle Pasta. A few raw walnuts scattered around the bowl and freshly grated vegan parmesan cheese on top.

Vegan Brown Butter Walnut and Tarragon Farfalle

Teri-Ann Carty
Cozy up with this elegant pasta dish. You could easily switch the herb to sage but try the tarragon. It is so dreamy.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Course Dinner, Lunch
Servings 4

Equipment

  • stove

Ingredients
  

  • 340 gr farfalle pasta (bow tie)
  • ¼ cup vegan butter
  • ¾ cup walnuts (roughly chopped)
  • 4 sprigs tarragon + 2 tbsp chopped
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • Pinch chili flakes
  • ½ red onion (small diced)
  • 2 cloves garlic (finely minced)
  • 3 cups yellow chanterelles
  • 2 tbsp miso paste
  • 1 lemon juiced
  • ½ cup pasta water
  • handful baby spinach
  • vegan parmesan (I measure with my heart)
  • sea salt & cracked pepper

Instructions
 

  • Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt generously. Cook pasta till al Dante. Reserve 1 cup pasta water before draining.
  • Heat 2 tbsp vegan butter into a pan over medium high heat. Swirl the pan continuously until butter starts to brown slightly. Add in walnuts and a pinch of salt. Cook walnuts until you can start to smell them and then transfer to a bowl. Add 1 tbsp of olive oil to the same pan and add in sprigs of tarragon. Saute until the leaves start to crispy up. Won’t take longer than a minute. Set aside.
  • Add 2 tbsp olive oil into the same pan with chili flakes and onion. Saute until the onion is translucent. Add in chanterelles and garlic. Add a splash of pasta water if chanterelles become too dry. Season with salt and pepper.
  • While onion, garlic and mushrooms are cooking make the lemon miso paste. Add miso and lemon juice into a small bowl and whisk until a paste forms.
  • Drain pasta (don’t forget to reserve the water), add pasta and miso lemon to pan and toss to combine. Add chopped tarragon, buttery walnuts, baby spinach, a splash of pasta water, a good helping of vegan parmesan and toss to combine. Cook until spinach is wilted, taste for seasoning and adjust accordingly.
  • Serve with crispy tarragon, more vegan Parmesan and chili flakes if desired.
Keyword dairy free, gluten free, pasta, plant based, vegan

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