The umami is just off the hook in this creamy miso tahini pasta with shiitake bacon. Such a flavor-bursting meal and that sauce is so easy it’s impossible to mess up.
And the obsession with miso and mushrooms continues. I love this miso tahini pasta sauce–it’s my go-to for when I want a quick and creamy plant-based sauce that doesn’t require soaking cashews. Add some baked shiitake bacon for crispy chewiness that contrasts the smooth and creamy pasta.
There is little you need for this recipe, assuming you have the ingredients in the title. I use three layers of flavor here: tamari for the shiitake bacon and miso and nutritional yeast for the sauce. All you do is bake the shiitake mushrooms, process the sauce, and add it all to your pasta along with some peas and spinach if you’d like.
The Rundown
miso tahini sauce – just process 6 ingredients: miso and tahini with a little coconut milk, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, and garlic.
shiitake bacon – cook it for 3 minutes in a cast iron first, then pop it in the oven for 10-12 minutes!
the rest of the pasta – warm up some peas, add the pasta, the sauce, some reserved pasta water (a must, if you ask me), some spinach, the shiitake bacon, and voila.
Miso Tahini Pasta with Shiitake Bacon
Ingredients
- 8 oz. pasta
- ½ cup frozen peas, thawed
- 12 shiitake mushrooms
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp tamari sub soy sauce
Miso Tahini Sauce
- 1 tbsp white miso
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- ¼ cup coconut milk *or another non-dairy milk
- ¼ cup warm water
- 1 garlic clove
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 F. Cook pasta al dente according to package instructions. Reserve 1/4 cup of pasta water.
- For the shiitake bacon, use your cast iron (recommended) or plop them straight onto a baking sheet with the olive oil, paprika, pepper, and tamari for 15 minutes.
- If using a cast iron, heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a cast-iron. Add mushrooms (thinly sliced – 1/4 inch thick), paprika, black pepper, and just before taking the cast iron off of the heat, the tamari or soy sauce. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Bake for 10-12 minutes, flipping once at half way.
- For the miso tahini sauce, process all the ingredients in a small processor. Add 2 tbsp of warm water at a time until you reach desired texture.
- For the pasta, heat the peas in a pan. Then pour all of the miso tahini sauce and 1/4 cup of reserved pasta water. Remove the pan from heat.
- Add cooked pasta, the shiitake bacon, and spinach. Top with red chili flakes and muah! Chef’s kiss.
For more easy, flavor-packed pasta recipes like this miso tahini pasta with shiitake bacon:
Broccoli Pesto Pasta with Lemon Sage Walnuts
You said it, I love all those uses! Glad you enjoyed the shrooms 🙂
LITERALLY these shiitake mushrooms are life changing – add them to soups, pastas, salads… possibilities are endless. I can see these being a recipe I repeat again and again. Thanks Anisha!