Chantarelle Mushrooms? Never Heard of Them: Why Not?!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Oh Whole Foods. You have been responsible for so many impulse buys over the years, especially among hungry vegans. And that was the case this week. I do the majority of my shopping at Trader Joe’s, but for those last couple specialty items like various vegan cheeses or fake meats I have to head across the street to the expensive Whole Foods to get those items. And being a mushroom-addict this week was one of those times when I walked in and had to buy the item on sale in the front of the produce section: chantarelle mushrooms. Never heard of them before, but they looked unique so I though I would give them a try. Made a tasty and simple, comforting pasta with them.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 a pound of chantarelle mushrooms (they are expensive, $16.99 a pound at Whole Foods, so I splurged on 1/2 a pound)
• 1 bag frozen peas
• 2/3 cup almond milk
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 6-8 TBsp flour
• 2 TBsp nutritional yeast
• 2 TBsp white wine
• 1/8 cup chopped green onion
• gigli pasta
• olive oil (small amt for frying)

First you will want to rinse your mushrooms and then slice in to bite sized pieces. Add to a wok with the green onions and heat with a small amount of olive oil.

Meanwhile cook your gigli pasta.

Also whisk together the almond milk, olive oil, and nutritional yeast in a bowl on the side. 

After about 4-5 minutes of frying at medium heat for the mushrooms, add the white wine and salt and pepper, cooking another 2-3 minutes. Then add the peas and the almond milk/olive oil mixture. Stir in and start adding flour to thicken the mixture, Tablespoon by Tablespoon. I ended up adding about 8 TBsp until I though the mixture looked like the right creaminess.

Serve the mushroom and pea sauce over your pasta!