Most "quick vegan dinner" recipes are quick because they leave things out. This one is quick because it only ever needed one pan.
It is the recipe people write in about most, and it takes twenty minutes from cupboard to plate. Here it is in full, free, exactly as it appears on page 29 of the book.
Creamy Tuscan Chickpea Pasta
20 MINUTES · SERVES 4 · EASY
Ingredients
12 oz spaghetti or penne
1 can (15 oz) chickpeas, drained
1 can (14 oz) crushed tomatoes
1 cup unsweetened plant milk
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp Italian seasoning
A handful of fresh basil
Method
1. Cook the pasta in well-salted water until just shy of al dente. Reserve a mug of the water before draining.
2. Heat the oil in a wide pan over medium and cook the garlic for 1 minute, until fragrant but not browned.
3. Add the chickpeas, crushed tomatoes, Italian seasoning and a good pinch of salt. Simmer 8 minutes, until the sauce darkens and thickens.
4. Pour in the plant milk, add the drained pasta, and toss until every strand is coated. Loosen with pasta water if it looks tight.
5. Off the heat, tear in the basil and grind over black pepper. Serve straight from the pan.
The one thing that matters
Cook the pasta one full minute less than the packet says. It finishes cooking in the sauce and picks up the flavour instead of just sitting in it. This is the difference between pasta with sauce on it and pasta that tastes of the sauce.
Three things that go wrong
The garlic burns. Medium heat, one minute, and pull it the moment it smells sweet. Browned garlic turns the whole pan bitter and there is no fixing it.
The sauce stays thin. You added the plant milk too early. Let the tomatoes and chickpeas reduce properly first — eight minutes, uncovered.
It seizes up on the plate. Keep the pasta water. A splash brings it straight back, and the starch in it is what makes the sauce cling.
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