Vegan Chickpea Cacio e Pepe Pasta
Vegan Chickpea Cacio e Pepe Pasta made with creamy cashew sauce, white miso and black pepper. A simple, minimal ingredient vegan pasta recipe with crispy chickpeas.
Ingredients
- 250 g linguine
- 1 jar (660g) Bold Bean Co Queen Chickpeas, drained (approx. 500g drained weight)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
For the sauce
- 80 g cashew butter
- 1 tsp white miso
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 2 small garlic cloves finely grated
- 120-150 ml hot pasta water
- 2 tbsp freshly cracked black pepper
- Salt to taste
- extra olive oil optional
Instructions
- Drain the jar of chickpeas well. Pat them dry and lightly crush roughly half with the back of a glass. This creates texture later on.
- Heat the olive oil in a wide pan over medium heat. Add the chickpeas and cook until golden at the edges, letting some of them crisp slightly. Season lightly with salt, then set aside.
- Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Cook the spaghetti until al dente.
- Before draining, reserve at least one cup of hot pasta water.
- In a bowl, whisk together the cashew butter, white miso, nutritional yeast, lemon juice and grated garlic.
- Slowly add 120ml of hot pasta water, whisking constantly, until smooth and pourable. Add more water if needed — it should feel slightly looser than you expect.
- In the empty pasta pan, add the freshly cracked black pepper and warm gently for 30–60 seconds until fragrant. This step is subtle but important.
- Return the drained pasta to the pan with the pepper. Pour over the sauce and toss vigorously, adding splashes of pasta water as needed to create a glossy coating.
- Fold in the crisped chickpeas and continue tossing until everything is silky and evenly coated.
- Finish with a drizzle of good olive oil and extra black pepper.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Recipe Notes
Sauce textureThe sauce should look slightly looser in the pan than you expect. It will thicken as it sits. If needed, add a splash of hot pasta water and toss until silky again. Cashew alternative
If you don’t have cashew butter, blend soaked cashews with a little hot water until completely smooth before whisking into the sauce. Pepper matters
Freshly cracked black pepper is essential here. Pre-ground pepper won’t give the same depth or aroma. Chickpea texture
Smashing and crisping half the chickpeas adds contrast. You can skip this step if short on time, but the texture makes a difference. Best served fresh
This pasta is at its best immediately after tossing. The sauce continues to thicken as it cools.