A while ago I posted on instagram requesting what my next dish should be! A lot of you asked about a healthy pasta dish. Don’t be fooled this may look like regular pastabut its actually made from chickpeas! How cool is that? I’v tried many bean based pastas some of them taste really rubbery and have a gummy texture, that I enjoy. Somewhat like buckwheat pasta texture. I really love bean based pastas because it has very few ingredients. But then I came across this pasta Banza Chickpea Pasta while I was watching Dr.Oz, I had to try it! The company was so generous to send me some to play around with. I was surprised by the texture and the taste it really tasted like white pasta, it even looked like white pasta! Meaning you can totally trick your kids into eating it! And check out the ingredients: Chickpeas, Tapioca, Pea Protein and Xanthan Gum. They offered my followers a discount code- RunningOnBanza 25% off any order for first 25 takers. Get them while you can 🙂 If you missed that promotion no worries you can use RunningOnVeggies10 and receive 10% your entire order, including free shipping.
I was talking to one of my clients the other day and she mentioned she ate a cream of spinach pasta the night before her first marathon. Lets just say the bathroom wasn’t her friend the morning of the race. It got me thinking, why can’t I make cream sauce to pair with this pasta? I can use tofu to get it creamy and nutritional yeast to give it that cheesy edge. The results this creamy protein rich pasta sauce.
Cream Sauce:
- 12 oz organic tofu
- 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth (if you don’t have on hand use almond milk or water)
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- Salt to taste
- 10 oz spinach fresh or frozen (if frozen make sure to defrost and drain the excess water)
- 4 cups of pasta Banza Chickpea pasta
- In a food processor process:tofu,almond milk,vegetable broth,nutritional yeast,garlic powder and salt. process until smooth.
- In a medium size pot boil water with a dash of salt, once boiling add your pasta, cook for 5-7 minutes
- Meanwhile while your pasta is cooking add the spinach to sauce pan and add your cream sauce. Let cook for the same amount of time that your pasta is cooking around 5-7 minutes. (If using frozen spinach remember to drain the excess water)
- drain your pasta, but do not rinse it! combine with spinach mixture in your sauce pan or bowl.
- you can serve it like this or bake it in the oven for 35-40 minutes at 375 to get it crispy
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Thanks for the great recipe! Just bought some Banza – really appreciate the discount code. Excited to try this new vegan bean-based pasta!
Great! You will love it! I am going to try it tomorrow night with tomato sauce or a homemade pest! I love that its so rich in protein yet it feels like your eating pasta!
I’ve never tried Banza pasta. Would any other type of pasta be good with this? Maybe quinoa or rice pasta?
I love banza pasta! but brown rice pasta would work, im not usually a fan of quinoa pasta because the first ingredient is corn! brown rice pasta or mungbean I recommend!
You can buy quinoa pasta without corn. Try Andean Dream brand. Two ingredients. Quinoa and rice flour. I avoid corn (used to be allergic) and found this but my favorite pasta is black bean – 25g of protein, low carb, and like 195 calories. Only black beans in it too.
Can you purchase Banza pasta in stores anywhere?
Yes! If you put in your zipcode on the stores website you can locations near you that carry them!
WOW! Awesome pasta! I have tried a handful of regular alfredo recipes and it never turned out right. This recipe is Savory!
Do you have a substitute for the tofu? I stay away from soy due to a strong family history of estrogen receptive breast cancer
Second time making this. Delicious! Didn’t make it with the suggested pasta (used brown rice pasta) but the sauce is amazing!