Roasted Garlic and Vegan Pasta Night

Vegan Pasta Night: A Modern Guide to Italian-Style Cooking, written by Brianna Claxton, features an incredible collection of vegan homemade pasta and gnocchi recipes paired with sauces, meat/cheese substitutes, and a variety of sides. A few highlights include Heirloom Pomodoro Sauce, Burrata, Hot and Sweet Italian Sausage Links, 20 Clove Garlic Penne, and Wild Mushroom and Sage Risotto. I will also be sharing her recipe for Roasted Garlic following the review.

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book from Harvard Common Press in exchange for my honest review. All comments and opinions are my own. This post contains Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase something through the link, I may receive a small commission at no extra charge to you.

Brianna Claxton

Brianna Claxton is a chef and creator of PLVNTFOOD. She was born and raised in Buffalo, New York and currently lives in California.

Her work has been featured in a variety of outlets including Amazon Prime’s High Cuisine, a signature appearance at Eat Drink Vegan Festival where she collaborated with Yeastie Boys Bagels for a signature featured dish, PETA, Mercy For Animals, and VegNews.

This is her first cookbook.

Vegan Pasta Night

Brianna begins Vegan Pasta Night with memories growing up with her Italian grandmother’s kitchen and how she started cooking vegan with a focus on individual ingredients.

The chapters are divided according to the following: Fresh Pastas, Sauces, and Other Essentials; Vegan Cheeses; Vegan Meats; Baked Pastas; Fancy Pastas; Filled Pastas; Breads and Spreads; and Sides and Staples.

The first chapter covers making your own semolina-based pasta at home with different flavors such as beetroot and turmeric along with three types of gnocchi.

After learning how to make the types of pasta and accompanying vegan meats/cheeses, Brianna shares so many different ways of bringing them together to form baked, more intricate, and filled pastas. She also includes a list of resources for favorite vegan products.

Every single recipe is paired with a beautifully styled photo of the finished dish. There are also step by step photos to demonstrate layering Lasagne Bolognese.

Measurements are listed in Metric and US Customary. Titles are written in English or Italian. Each dish has a headnote with background information, yield, time, uses, helpful tips, and menu ideas.

Roasted Garlic

As I was looking through Vegan Pasta Night, I was particularly drawn to the Roasted Garlic since it can be used in quite a few areas in the book. It is such an easy way to add flavor with a few pantry staples.

Start by cutting just enough off the tops of the whole garlic heads to reveal the cloves. Season with olive oil, salt, and pepper, then wrap up tightly in the aluminum foil to seal.

Bake until the cloves are deeply golden, about 1 hour (start checking at 45 minutes).

So far I have used the roasted garlic for the Vegan Alfredo Sauce and Roasted Garlic Bread. Brianna also recommends using them in acidic white wine sauces or anywhere you want a more subtle, sweet garlic flavor.

The discarded garlic tops can be frozen to use later in homemade vegetable broth.

Other Dishes

I also made Alfredo, Goat Cheese, Roasted Garlic Bread, and Insalata Mista with Lemon Poppyseed Vinaigrette.

A variation of the American-style Alfredo, this recipe swaps the cream for blended cashews, garlic, vegan butter (recipe in book), and vegan Parmesan (recipe also in book). I loved this sauce so much and have made it three times so far (incorporating the roasted garlic the third time!).

The Goat Cheese is a great spot to start in the vegan cheeses section. Firm tofu is processed with miso, coconut oil, and rice vinegar until blended, then formed into logs and wrapped to set in the refrigerator. It is so versatile too.

My first use for the Roasted Garlic was to make Roasted Garlic Bread! This is another one that quickly became a favorite. Slices of rustic Italian bread are covered with a vegan butter mixed with not only roasted garlic, but also fresh garlic and garlic powder for quite the combination. For even more flavor, you can top the bread with vegan mozzarella.

The recipe for the Insalata Mista with Lemon Poppyseed Vinaigrette was inspired by Brianna’s memories at Falletta’s in Buffalo. It is so bright and refreshing. The homemade lemon poppyseed dressing is shaken until emulsified, then paired with lettuce, cucumbers, and red onion.

Vegan Pasta Night is a great pick for those interested in making vegan/vegetarian pasta-based meals and sides or are even just looking to add more meatless meal options to their menu planning. Some recipes come together with simply a blender and a couple of minutes while others require a bit more prep or resting time.

Many of the ingredients can be found in larger American grocery stores. A few items that may require further searching include activated charcoal, flaxseeds, Calabrian chiles, white truffle powder, kappa carrageenan, brown rice protein powder, nutritional yeast, beet powder, chickpea flour, and vegan beef bouillon.

Roasted Garlic Recipe

Excerpt from Vegan Pasta Night

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5 from 3 votes

Roasted Garlic

A recipe for Roasted Garlic from the cookbook, Vegan Pasta Night! Heads of garlic are roasted in the oven with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine N/A

Keyword garlic, roasted garlic, vegan, vegetable, vegetarian

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Total Time 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

Servings 6 Heads

Ingredients

• 6 heads garlic
• 6 tablespoons (90 milliliters) olive oil 1 tablespoon (15 milliliters) per head of garlic
• 3 teaspoons (18 grams) salt 1/2 teaspoon per head of garlic
• 3 teaspoons (6 grams) black pepper 1/2 teaspoon per head of garlic

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C, or gas mark 7).
• Take each head of garlic and holding it sideways on the cutting board, cut off the top of the bulb that is starting to grow upwards to reveal the garlic cloves. I recommend cutting about one-quarter of the way down the head of garlic from the top.
• Discard the tops or freeze them for making homemade vegetable broth.
• Place each garlic head on a piece of aluminum foil that’s large enough to wrap it up after seasoning.
• Top each head with the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Wrap each bulb individually with foil and make sure they’re all tightly wrapped and sealed before baking.
• Place the aluminum foil packets on a baking tray and bake for 1 hour. Check after 45 minutes. They’re ready when they’re a deep golden brown.
• If they need to cook longer, continue to cook and check at 5-minute increments.