This is a delicious vegan pasta recipe with some slightly unusual ingredients. The less common ingredients in this recipe are doenjang, a Korean-style soybean paste and tobanjan, a broad bean chilly paste, and mung dal ,skinned yellow split mung beans that are common in Indian cuisine.
vegan 60-minutes • 750 kcal per person 
Ingredients
For two people:
- Fresh ingredients & groceries
- 400 g carrots, chopped fine
- 100 g celery, chopped fine
- half a courgette (100 g), chopped fine (*)
- mung dal (150 g or 2/3 cup)
- garlic (to taste; I use one or two cloves)
- ginger (at least 1 cm, chopped fine)
- herbes de Provence (handful)
- doubanjiang, Chinese fermented chili bean paste (to taste; I use less than a teaspoon)
- doenjang, Korean soybean paste (to taste; I use less than a teaspoon)
- From the store cupboard
- 1 can of chopped tomatoes (400 g)
- dried porcini mushrooms (handful) (*)
- dried tomatoes (2 small or 1 large, cut in strips) (*)
- 200 g pasta (I use linguine)
Ingredients with (*) are optional. Sometimes I use fresh mushrooms instead of dried porcini, and the courgette is optional, it depends on what you have available. I’ve even added parsnips instead.
Preparation
- If you use them, soak the dried mushrooms and dried tomatoes in hot water for about half an hour.
- I make this in the microwave.
- First cook the carrots, celery, ginger and garlic for about 6-7 minutes on full power (900W).
- Then add the dal, the mushrooms and tomatoes with their liquid, the canned tomatoes and some boiling water.
- Cook for a further 3-4 minutes at 900W.
- Then add the herbs, doubanjiang and doenjang.
- Cook for 15-20 minutes at reduced power (360W), stir occasionally.
- Meanwhile, cook the pasta on the hob as usual.
- I like to top this with walnut pieces.