Vegan Mediterranean Pasta

After 4 years of vegetarianism, and 10 months of debating with myself whether I should jump off the deep end, I decided yesterday to switch over to veganism.

As a lover of almond milk and fresh veg, this switch has thus far proven not to be too difficult for me. Another thing that has made it easier has been the recent advent of Sainsbury’s FreeFrom cheese!

Here in Cambridge, Sainsbury’s has a bit of a monopoly on supermarkets — it being the only one in the centre of town. I was therefore really excited to hear that they were releasing their own range of vegan cheese, developed by Bute Island. Last week, I bought the garlic and herb soft cheese, and after devouring it, I went back today and feverishly snapped up the FreeFrom Greek-style cheese and cheddar with caramelised onion.

To celebrate this, I whipped up a yummy Mediterranean style pasta — which was also super cheap — so I thought I’d share.

This takes about 25 minutes — even if you’re a slowpoke like me — and cost me £0.68 per serving.

Vegan Mediterranean Pasta – serves 3

Ingredients (and prices)
300g pasta £0.51
170g frozen spinach £0.26
3tbsp extra virgin olive oil £0.05
3tbsp balsamic vinegar £0.11
1 onion, diced £0.08
2 cloves of garlic, chopped £0.09
1 tomato, diced £0.10
75g FreeFrom Greek-style dairy free cheese (or other hard white cheese) £0.84
total: £2.04
per serving: £0.68

Method

1. Cook the pasta according to directions. Do the same separately for the spinach, draining it when cooked.
2. Meanwhile, heat up 2tbsp olive oil in a pan on a medium heat. Add in the onion and fry for 4 minutes, stirring frequently.
3. Add in the garlic and fry for a further minute, then add the tomato along with 2tbsp of the balsamic vinegar.
4. After another minute, add the drained spinach as well as the remaining olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Mix together well, then remove from the heat.
5. Drain the pasta then return to its original pan. Add in first the spinach mix, integrating it fully. Then, crumble in the cheese.
6. Season as desired, and enjoy!

I really enjoyed this. If you wanted to add something more, I think a bit of ground nutmeg or some toasted pine nuts would be delicious. Nonetheless, this is a very satisfying and wallet-friendly dinner, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

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