I consider it a mission of mine nowadays to cook vegan food that not only looks pretty but also tastes amazing. I try new recipes once or twice a week, and sometimes I get a little obsessed. Like the day I wanted to make kid friendly brussels sprouts. The thing is – even I didn’t like these perfectly imperfect little green bundles until a few years ago. That’s because I hadn’t tried brussels sprouts with vegan cheese crumble and chickpeas.
My vegan crumble has been a staple in our house for many months now; it’s the perfect oven roasted veggie and pasta topping. This time I went the safe way by combining brussels sprouts and chickpeas with some oat cream to form a delicious and yes – very kid-friendly brussels sprouts pasta dish. And how do I know it was a success?
After dinner all I saw was: empty plates, smiling faces, and a happy mess.
My little taste testers were so hungry during this photo shoot I have absolutely no photo of the actual meal. I hope you can imagine a bowl full of thin spaghetti all curled up comfortably under a warm creamy sauce with cheesy crumble. There among the crumble and soft chickpeas you will catch a glimpse of roasted brussels sprouts halves, the happily disguised stars of the show.
- Oven roasted brussels sprouts
- 10 ounces / 300g of brussels sprouts (about 20 sprouts)
- 2 tbsp melted coconut oil
- ¼ tsp good quality salt (I use Himalayan salt)
- Vegan cheese crumble and chickpeas
- ⅓ cup cashews
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- ½ tbsp lemon juice
- ½ tsp garlic flakes (or ¼ tsp garlic powder)
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup pre-cooked chickpeas
- Pasta sauce
- Pasta of choice (I like to use organic black bean spaghetti) for four
- ½ cup oat cooking cream (or vegan cooking cream of choice or coconut milk)
- Preheat oven to 200C/390F.
- Oven roasted brussels sprouts: wash brussels sprouts, remove outer leaves and cut the brown stem off. Cut sprouts in half, put in a bowl and mix with coconut oil and salt. Put on a baking sheet cut side down and roast for 15 min. NOTE: remove loose, burnt (black) outer leaves.
- Vegan cheese crumble: Blend all ingredients except chickpeas in a food processor until crumble like consistency reached. Add in pre-cooked chickpeas and mix with a spoon, do not blend. Pour crumble and chickpeas on top of brussels sprouts, toss around until thoroughly mixed, and roast for another 10-15 min until brussels sprouts look golden brown.
- Pasta sauce: cook pasta according to instructions, but leave it al dente. On the stove: Put oven roasted brussels sprouts and crumble into a pan with pasta and pour over the cooking cream. Cook on medium heat for 2 minutes stirring gently.
- Enjoy!
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