Pasta with Mushrooms and Radicchio

This would be a simpler pasta dish if one were not vegan, since it calls for evaporated milk. Of course, one is vegan, and those of you who follow this blog know that I actually enjoy the slow-method process of making vegan evaporated milk (3 cups plain soy milk in a saucepan over medium-low heat; cook until reduced to 1 and 1/2 cups, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon). If you don't feel like putting in all that time, you could probably get away with just using regular soy milk in a pinch. If you do make your own though, you'll have considerably more evaporated soy milk than you'll need for this recipe - but I plan to use my leftovers as creamer for coffee over the next week! (That's how long it will keep in a glass jar in the fridge).

Either way, I recommend making the evaporated soy milk ahead of time, so that when you make the recipe, you can get right to it...

Heat a teaspoon and a half of vegan butter (such as Earth Balance) and 1/2 tsp. olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, cooking until the butter melts. Add 3 cups chopped mushrooms (I cut mine into quarters), 2 cups chopped fennel bulb and 6 tablespoons sliced green onions; cook for 20 minutes, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are very tender.

Add 1/4 cup vegetable broth and 1 and 1/2 tablespoons dry sherry (my go-to brand is the unfiltered Fino en Rama from Alvear) and cook for 3 minutes - the liquid will be just about absorbed.

Add 1/4 cup evaporated soy milk and cook for 2 minutes. Add 1 cup chopped radicchio and cook a final 2 minutes.

Stir in 1/4 tsp. salt and and 1/8 tsp. black pepper.

Combine the mushroom mixture in a large bowl with 4 cups hot cooked fusilli pasta - the original recipe said that this would be about 8 ounces uncooked pasta, but this seemed suspiciously too much too me. On a hunch, I cooked 6 ounces uncooked pasta instead, which perfectly yielded 4 cups cooked, so that's what I recommend. (I used Whole Foods' house brand fusilli).

Gently toss to combine, and then spoon 1 and 1/2 cups pasta into each of 4 plates. Sprinkle each serving with 1 and 1/2 tablespoons grated vegan cheese in place of Parmesan (such as the vegan mozzarella from Galaxy Foods), and 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley. Each serving is 310 calories.

Cost:
mushrooms $2.49
fennel $1.68
green onions $0.99
vegetable broth $2.69
dry sherry $10.99
plain soy milk $2.49
radicchio $2.50
fusilli $1.99
vegan cheese $3.39
parsley $1.69