Vegan "cacio e pepe"

I've been trying to eat a little less dairy lately and I wanted to see if I could recreate one of my all time favorite cheesy dishes without real cheese. Okay, so I'll admit it, it's not the same as the original dish that Italian grandmothers have been whipping up in Rome for years. But it's GOOD! It's just missing that sharp sharp taste that pecorino romano cheese gives off. Also, butter isn't a typical ingredient of cacio e pepe but since this is a vegan version, the (vegan) butter helps to add more of that silky texture that melting real cheese into the pasta water creates in the traditional non-vegan version.

Originally, I wanted to use this vegan parmesan cheese I've had in my fridge for a while (Follow Your Heart brand) but at the last second I realized that there are chickpeas on the ingredient list so I had to abandon ship and just use nutritional yeast. If you can eat chickpeas, I might try half nutritional yeast and half the vegan parm - it might taste more cacio e pepe-ish and cheesy that way.

What you need:

• 1/2 lb pasta (I used Jovial Foods gf bowtie)
• 2 tbsp vegan butter
• 2 tsp black pepper (freshly cracked peppercorns are best)
• 1/4 cup pasta water
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast

What to do: 

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta according to the package directions. (1/2 lb of pasta is usually 1/2 of a standard size box btw - enough for two people or three side dishes.)
• Melt the vegan butter in a skillet and toast the peppercorns in it - heat should be closer to low than medium. Toasting the pepper brings out its flavor more which is an essential step in making traditional cacio e pepe.
• Once the pasta only has a few more minutes to go, scoop out the 1/4 cup of water and add it to the skillet with the butter and pepper and turn the heat up so that it's hot enough to cause the mixture to start to bubble.
• Add the cooked pasta and the nutritional yeast to the bubbling sauce mixture and stir. If you're using the vegan parmesan cheese I mentioned in the intro, add that in here too and stir.
• Once the pasta is mixed with the sauce it's ready for serving. I always top with a little more black pepper too!