A simple delicious vegan recipe for Orecchiette with Creamy Carrot Miso Sauce, topped with a bright and flavorful Carrot Top Gremolata (optional) and Toasted Bread Crumbs. If you are a fan of the Orecchiette with Broccoli Sauce I know you’ll appreciate this too! Flavorful and healthy! 

 Orecchiette with Creamy Carrot Miso Sauce, topped with  Carrot Top Gremolata (optional) and Toasted Bread Crumbs. Flavorful and healthy! #orecchiette

We’ve been loving this vegan Orecchiette Pasta lately and I think you might too. It features fresh, happy carrots, not just the roots, but the tops too!  The Orecchiette pasta is the perfect little scoop for the creamy carrot sauce. Pillowy cups of goodness.

The carrot sauce is so simple to make and basically simmers while the orecchiette pasta cooks, very quick and efficient – and then it is blended into the creamiest silkiest sauce that glows with nutrients.

The vibrant green carrot tops are turned into a tasty, herby Gremolata Sauce. Double the flavor and double the nutrients!

 Orecchiette w/Creamy Carrot Miso Sauce! | 45-second video

Why this Orecchiette works?

It hits all the marks for me:

  • satisfyingly creamy -yet surprisingly vegan!
  • so much depth and umami (from the miso)
  • gratifying texture and crunch (from the toasted bread crumbs)
  • bright and tangy flavors from Carrot-Top Gremolata
  • full of nutrients!

Altogether it is an orchestra of flavors- and basically- it just makes me happy!

Try it and see if it makes you happy too. Just curious. 😉

 

It starts with fresh sweet carrot and their tops. If you can’t find carrot tops, feel free to sub flat-leaf parsley.

Slice the carrots thinly for the fastest cooking, and rough-chop the garlic and shallots.

Saute the shallots and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until golden and fragrant.

Add the carrots, water, and cashews, and let simmer covered until the carrots are tender- about 15 minutes. At the same time cook the Orecchiette pasta.

When the carrots are tender, stir in the miso. I like to use white miso here to help keep the sauce bright and orange.

Then you will blend it into a silky smooth sauce.

Creamy carrot sauce - vegan!

creamy carrot miso sauce

To make the Carrot top Gremolata, pick a 1/2 cup of tender carrot tops.  Alternatively you can use flat-leaf parsley.

Place in a food processor with parsley, lemon zest and a garlic clove. Pulse repeatedly.

Carrot Top Gremolata

Add olive oil, a squeeze of lemon and salt.

Carrot Top Gremolata

Set aside.

Carrot Top Gremolata

Toast up some bread crumbs.

Here I’ve toasted panko with a little olive oil, salt, and granulated garlic. You could make your own bread crumbs with leftover crusty bread- sourdough if you are on that train. 🙂

The bread crumbs add the PERFECT TEXTURE to the creamy pasta. TRUST ME!

Drain the orecchiette pasta and pour the creamy carrot sauce over top.

creamy carrot miso sauce

It will almost feel like creamy mac and cheese but wayyyyyyy better.

 A simple delicious vegan recipe for Orecchiette Pasta with Creamy Carrot Miso Sauce, topped with  Carrot Top Gremolata (optional) and Toasted Bread Crumbs. Flavorful and healthy! #orecchiette

Divide among bowls and sprinkle with bread crumbs.

 A simple delicious vegan recipe for Orecchiette Pasta with Creamy Carrot Miso Sauce, topped with  Carrot Top Gremolata (optional) and Toasted Bread Crumbs. Flavorful and healthy! #orecchiette

The pasta is good without the Gremolata, but the gremolata really elevates it.

 A simple delicious vegan recipe for Orecchiette Pasta with Creamy Carrot Miso Sauce, topped with  Carrot Top Gremolata (optional) and Toasted Bread Crumbs. Flavorful and healthy! #orecchiette

I hope you have beautiful weekend friends.  You’ll find the freshest carrots (and their vibrant green tops) at the farmers market this weekend so get outside, get some fresh air and go get some carrots.

xoxo

Sylvia

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  3. Spring Orecchiette with Asparagus and Peas 
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  5. 25 MUST-TRY Vegetarian Pasta (that are not boring!)
  6. North African Carrot Soup with Chermoula
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 A simple delicious vegan recipe for Orecchiette Pasta with Creamy Carrot Miso Sauce, topped with  Carrot Top Gremolata (optional) and Toasted Bread Crumbs. Flavorful and healthy! #orecchiette

Orecchiette with Creamy Carrot Miso Sauce (Vegan)

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 148 reviews
  • Author: Sylvia Fountaine
  • Prep Time: 20
  • Cook Time: 25
  • Total Time: 45 minutes
  • Yield: 3-4 1x
  • Category: vegan, pasta
  • Method: stove top
  • Cuisine: American

Description

A simple delicious vegan recipe for Orecchiette with Creamy Carrot Miso Sauce, topped with a bright and tasty Carrot Top Gremolata (optional) and Toasted Bread Crumbs. Flavorful and healthy! #orecchiette


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 810 ounces orecchiette pasta, cooked in salted water, according to package directions.

Carrot Miso Sauce:

  • 2 shallots, rough chopped (or 1/2 an onion)
  • 46 garlic cloves, rough chopped
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 heaping cups carrots, thinly sliced (3 medium carrots)
  • 2 cups water
  • 1/4 cup raw cashews (or sub raw hemp seeds)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 3 tablespoons White Miso Paste

Carrot Top Gremolata (optional, but tasty)  

  • 1/2 cup carrot tops (small tender leaves) packed or sub 1/2 cup more Italian Parsley
  • 1/2 cup Italian parsley
  • 1 fat garlic clove
  • 1 tablespoon lemon zest ( zest from one med lemon)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup– 1/2 cup olive oil (make sure it is not bitter-taste it!)
  • 12 teaspoons lemon juice.

Toasted Bread Crumbs


Instructions

  1. COOK PASTA: Set 6-8 cups salted water to boil for pasta, and cook according to directions.
  2. COOK the SAUCE: Heat oil in a medium pot, over medium heat. Saute shallot and garlic until fragrant and golden, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add carrots, cashews, water, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Cover, lower heat to low and simmer gently until carrots are fork-tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in the 3 tablespoons of miso ( it doesn’t need to dissolve fully) and let cool for 5-10 minutes.
  3. While the carrots simmer make the optional Carrot Top Gremolata and Toasted Panko or Bread Crumbs (see notes!) 
  4. BLEND THE CARROT MISO SAUCE: Once the carrots are tender and slightly cooled, place all in a high-speed blender, covering tightly with a kitchen towel, blend on the lowest setting, gradually increasing speed, until fully blended, creamy and silky smooth about 1- 1 1/2 minutes. Take your time here and get it SMOOTH!!!
  5. Drain the pasta and pour the sauce over the pasta, gently warming if needed. Taste and adjust salt. (If you didn’t salt your pasta water, chances are you’ll need salt.)
  6. Divide among bowls, and sprinkle with toasted bread crumbs and spoon the flavorful Carrot Top Gremolata over top.

Notes

Feel free to toss in 1 cup of other veggies into the cooking pasta at the end to steam. For example, sometimes I’ll add a cup of peas to quickly blanch in with the pasta at the last minute.

You can make the sauce ahead, refrigerate and warm up before serving.

Carrot TOP Gremolata

  1. Place carrot leaves, parsley, lemon zest and garlic in a food processer and pulse repeatedly until finely chopped. Add the salt and oil, pulsing a few more times until incorporated (but not too smooth). Add more oil if you prefer a looser version.

Toasted Bread Crumbs or Panko

  1. Place a 1/2 -1 cup of bread crumbs or panko in a large skillet over medium heat, and drizzle with just enough olive oil to lightly coat. Add a good pinch of salt and granulated garlic if you like. Stir until golden, about 5 minutes. Let cool.

 

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: without bread crumbs or Gremolata
  • Calories: 393
  • Sugar: 6.7 g
  • Sodium: 201.3 mg
  • Fat: 12.8 g
  • Saturated Fat: 2 g
  • Carbohydrates: 59.7 g
  • Fiber: 5.4 g
  • Protein: 11.5 g
  • Cholesterol: 0 mg

 

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Comments

  1. This is truly an incredible recipe. I made all of the things including the toasted panko, which added a great crunch, and the herbaceous gremolata–SO yummy! Overall, the dish had such a delicate but rich and delicious flavor — I felt like a true chef! I cannot wait to make this for guests.






  2. This is such a delicious meal!! We found out that pistachios make the dish even tastier than cashews (we were out of cashews and subbed in pistachios once). Thanks for the recipe. And don’t eat it without the parsley gremolata!






  3. I served this to a large crowd and they all loved it!!! Rich, unusual, delicious and easy to make. Healthy too.

  4. I would give this six stars if I could! I have never been much interested in vegan food thinking it was always trying to taste like something people used to eat but don’t any more. This dish stands on its own. Creamy, light, flavor-full. I used small shell pasta (all I could find) and I used lemon infused olive oil to sub for the lemon zest in the gremolata. That and the bread crumbs are essential, in my opinion. What a wonderful complex mix of flavors. Thanks again. I have yet to be disappointed with a recipe.






  5. I would love to try this recipe but my sister has a nut allergy. What are some substitutes and their amounts you recommend?

  6. Wow! This is one of the most delicious meals I have ever cooked and it felt very fancy! The next time I have company over I look forward to making this again!






  7. This recipe is absolutely delicious! Multi-layered flavors, with a sauce that you was so creamy you would not believe it didn’t have cream in it. My husband raved about it, and he is not normally effusive about food. Thanks for the recipe!






  8. I have never commented on a recipe before, but this pasta is 100% worth it. (I’m saying this as a born and bred italian). It was delicious, refreshing, unique and my partner declared it one of the best recipe I’ve ever made! I wholeheartedly recommend going the extra step of making bread crumbs and the gremolada as it does make a huge difference. Since the sauce was so freaking tasty I would also suggest it as a soup eaten in whole spoonfuls. I promise you, you won’t regret the effort!
    Thank you for your wonderful recipe. 🙂

    P.s. I would urge you all to check out the make ahead vegan salad session. Simply brilliant!






    1. Thanks so much- very appreciated. Funny, this actually did start off as a soup, that I turned into a pasta sauce. 🙂

  9. OMG! So delicious! It’s critical to make the breadcrumbs and gremolata (I actually made chimichurri instead of the gremolata because I could eat it by the bucketload). This recipe is a total keeper!






  10. I am a new vegan cook and usually fails at vegan recipes. But this one was a win for me. Delicious and creamy – like a gourmet mac and cheese. My husband loved it! The gremolata adds some bite with the lemon zest that my husband thinks it ‘replaces’ the bite that cheddar has. The toasted bread crumbs add a nice crunch to it!

    and breadcrumbs






  11. Made this recipe last night. My husband and I really enjoyed it. I had extra sauce so I froze it for next time.
    Have you ever frozen the sauce before?






  12. Delicious! I would hesitate to double the sauce recipe as the original makes extra. Also we used the pasta water to help thicken the sauce while adding volume so this make explain why we ended up with so much extra. Not a problem of course – less work later!






    1. That is a great question and I’m not sure if it would separate when thawed? Will have to experiment.

  13. This recipe was fabulous and is very easy to make the parts the day before service and then boil the pasta and finish for guests in a short time period. I am trading 1 vegan dish with a vegan friend each month though I am not a vegan cook. This recipe was so delicious and such an easy one to deliver for her to finish. We all LOVED it’s flavor. I think the panko crumb and gremolata garni is a must. I also make the papaya salad to accompany the dinner delivery. This carrot pasta was so full of flavor and has such a creamy unique not overly carrot flavor. It’s flavor is umami but difficult to define… it could nearly taste butternut squash like or slight carrot or just undefinable and mysterious in flavor profile… which makes it stupendous to make and serve. A real winner to serve to carnivores or vegans alike! Everyone will LOVE it.






  14. Wow! Beautiful and tasty. Thank you. My husband was eyeing the portion set aside for my son who is working.






  15. This was absolutely amazing! My husband and I couldn’t stop licking the bowl. Thank you so much for creating and sharing.






  16. Was so excited when I saw this recipe. Orecchiette is my favorite kind of pasta so I was hooked from the first pic. It was SO good. I could have eaten the sauce like soup. And when the gremolata and breadcrumbs are added…perfection. I’m always so excited when I see a new recipe from you. Thank you so much!






  17. Brilliant recipe! Love the color, texture, and taste. Plus I keep getting carrots with the greens attached and this is the perfect way to use them. And making a lot of pasta at home now, so delighted to have this addition to my recipes. Beautiful and delicious!






  18. Recipe looks great! My daughter is allergic to cashews, but can have almonds. Would almonds be an ok substitute? Or is there a better substitute for cashews? Thank you!

    1. Haven’t tried with almonds- worry that they might not get creamy enough- they are less oily than cashews? You could try I guess?

  19. Question; can you omit the nuts? Or substitute something in its place? Thank you. Sounds delicious.

    1. Hey Toby, the cashews really give this it’s creaminess. You could try hemp seeds – though I haven’t tried -so not positive it wouldn’t separate? Are you vegan- if not you could try adding a little cream?

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