I know I am treading on thin ice here because replicating an authentic vegan carbonara is practically not possible. For someone who has spent a lot of time working in Italian restaurant kitchens I know some would think this is an abomination to a true Italian carbonara and I'd probably agree with you. However I am standing firm on my soapbox that the whole point of cooking in a creative sense is to not color inside the lines. The truth is many people don't eat pork, eggs or dairy and still want to try foods or cuisines outside of their comfort zones.
I had to get creative because this is mission impossible. I don't know if the tomato roasting was completely necessary but I did want to take advantage of all of the umami flavors tomatoes have as well as use some of that color. One thing about Italian cuisine that has really inspired my cooking is preparing dishes that are truly made in the moment. So with all that being said - here is to those who want to indulge and can appreciate tradition without being confined to it.
The Weekly Round-Up
Carbonara Inspired Bucatini
I have made a traditional carbonara more times than I can honestly remember. I feel like I am having flashbacks of my line cooking days of working solo on the sauté station of the Italian restaurant I used to work at. As you can imagine this was the busiest station because for the most part when people are craving Italian food they’re thinking of pasta. All this to say, I feel pretty capable to play around with the idea of how to go about making a plant-based version. If you have always wanted to try carbonara but have been hesitant due to pork, eggs or dairy. This is the recipe for you !
Banana Coffee Cake
The first time I made this and posted it on Instagram and Tik Tok I thought I was really onto something. However people in the comments were happy to inform me that banoffee cake is already a thing. The thing is, I don't think it should be considered a “banoffee cake” because this is more of a coffee cake with an essence of banana and there isn’t caramel or buttercream.
Whatever this thing is called it has now become a household favorite that will maybe last 2 days as it never seems to last any longer than that before everyone is picking for crumbs.
A couple months ago I made a carrot cake baked oats that is reminiscent of this as they both have a cinnamony streusel topping and now I am trying to decide which one is my favorite because carrot cake with pineapple just has me in a choke hold but coffee cake and banana is just a match made in heaven.
That’s it for this week folks ! I hope you guys have been liking how I have been liking this newsletter now that with a couple weeks I seem to have this Substack thing down.
If you are looking for the recipe, click the title of each recipe and it will take you to my site where all the ingredients and instructions are. This makes for a shorter weekly email that is hopefully a lighter read.
Thank you for continuing to subscribe and support my work and don’t be afraid to leave a comment of future recipes you would like to see :)
Pre-Shift is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.