A simple and healthy dinner with a touch of fancy, this umami-packed spaghetti is full of tasty balsamic roasted vegetables and truffle oil! It couldn’t be easier to make, is easily customized to your own tastes, and is vegan / plant based too.
It is my belief that a bottle of truffle oil is a must have for any vegetarian or vegan cupboard, and while I know that some Proper Food People have all sorts of opinions about truffle oil, I will be happily clinging to my bottles of Truffle Hunter.
For a home cook, truffle oil is just a lovely easy way to stop a boring meal from being boring and what’s not to love about that?
This is a decadent vegan pasta recipe
So today we have a vegan pasta recipe which involves roasting lots of vegetables in a balsamic marinade, and then drizzling them with truffle oil to double down on that umami flavor.
Then we add spaghetti and basil. Ta da! Easy dinner, decidedly not boring.
See it unfold…
Top Tips for the Dreamiest Truffle Oil Pasta
There’s flexibility in this recipe but be mindful with your mix of vegetables: I use cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers and sweet potato. There is room to change things around but you shouldn’t take out the cherry tomatoes or the mushrooms if you can help it. They melt in with the balsamic glaze and keep things juicy. Without them your pan of veggies gets pretty dry and doesn’t have the ability to coat the pasta the same way.
See in the above image? There’s just a very light, but very necessary coating on all of the pasta strands that you need to preserve.
Get good truffle oil if you can afford it! I will never buy anything but Truffle Hunter. It’s just… SO GOOD. Insanely good. For this recipe I used their black truffle oil (the single concentrate one – they also do a restaurant strength version which is excellent for fries, but in a dish like this you’d need to adjust the amount down). Anyway, Truffle Hunter is made with real truffles so I feel like even the haters should respect this stuff.
If you’re not vegan, you could definitely add cheese (or vegan cheese if you’ve got a brand that you’re into) and it will never be a bad idea! But I did try to make this pasta flavorful enough without the cheese. The balsamic marinade, the truffle oil, the herbs, lots of salt and pepper… you’re good to go, I promise!
(Now real quick, before we get to the printable recipe, if you are armed with a bottle of truffle that you love, can I also point you in the direction of some Air Fryer Truffle Cheese Fries or some Creamy Butternut Pasta with Truffle Oil for another night? Yes? No?)
Roasted Vegetable & Truffle Oil Pasta
Ingredients
- 14 oz (400 g) mushrooms, sliced in half (I used portabellini aka cremini)
- ½ a sweet potato, peeled and chopped into small cubes
- 14 oz (400 g) cherry tomatoes
- 1 small red bell pepper, sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ Tbsp truffle oil*
- 11 oz (300 g) dried spaghetti
Roasting Marinade
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp soy sauce or tamari*
- ¼ tsp dijon mustard
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C / 400F.
- Whisk together all of the marinade ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Lightly oil a large roasting dish and scatter the mushrooms, peppers, sweet potato, cherry tomatoes and garlic across the dish. Pour the marinade on top and use a spatula to mix it through, ensuring that every bit is covered.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Try to ensure that the vegetables don't overlap too much and then place in the oven, uncovered, for 45-50 minutes. Remove once in this time to mix the vegetables up and flip them over. It's ready when the vegetables are all cooked and soft and the tomato and mushroom juices are reduced and thickened.
- Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti to package instructions. Reserve a cup of the cooking water before draining.
- Remove the vegetables from the oven and quickly mix in the truffle oil, mixing it through to get the flavour distributed throughout. Toss in the basil and spaghetti, mix thoroughly, adding some pasta water if it feels too dry.
- Garnish with additional basil and cheese or vegan cheese if you choose to add it.
Thanks for the recipe Christine. I’m really looking forward to trying it. I have used Truffle oil from the Truffle Hunter for the last few years. I can highly recommend it. It’s one of if not the best on the market.
Thanks again for sharing your lovely recipes.
Oh it’s just so dreamy isn’t it! All of their stuff is amazing. I hope you enjoy this recipe when you try it 🙂