Vegan caviar made from seaweed?
I continue to be amazed at the plant-based versions of foods that I thought I would never eat again!
I initially bought Caviart® plant-based caviar to motivate me to improve my sushi-making skills or to garnish blini (thin Russian buckwheat pancakes). Both dishes sounded like a lot of work (given my recent knee replacement surgery), so my two small jars of Caviart® – one orange and one black – languished in my pantry.
In experimenting with ideas for an easy one pot pasta recipe that would take less than 20 minutes to make, I found that vegan caviar could elevate my weeknight pasta to the next level.
It’s been a very long time since I’ve tasted caviar or fish roe, but I was surprised to how much the Caviart® looked like the tiny fish eggs that embellish sushi rolls. These tiny beads of seaweed have a clean, fresh, briny taste – but don’t taste fishy. The plant-based caviar is made in Denmark by a family-owned company that sustainably harvests seaweed from the waters around France and Denmark, and has developed their products based on their inventor father’s “trial and error” family recipes. From their website, it appears that they sell a lot of their products to the restaurant industry, and bill their products as “the environmentally conscious alternative to all types of roe.”
As a scuba diver, the idea of eating caviar or fish roe never made sense to me. Why would I want to eat the eggs of fish species whose numbers were dwindling in the ocean? I’ve linked Caviart’s page describing the many fish species that are under threat and the seaweed products they have developed as alternatives to using caviar or roe.
I was inspired to make a pasta that fused ingredients that I had on hand. The key to actually pulling this off in 20 minutes is to begin your prep while your pasta water is coming to a boil.
First, make sure your Boursin and unsalted butter are at room temperature.
Wash and spin dry your fresh spinach and slice it into thin ribbons. Put the spinach in the bottom of the colander you’ll use to drain your pasta.
Thinly slice a bunch of scallions and put the sliced scallions in a small bowl.
Your pasta water should now be at a rolling boil. Add a tablespoon of salt, and then your fettucine, linguine, spaghetti, or any other type of pasta you have on hand. Cook your pasta according to the package directions. My fettuccine took about 6 minutes to reach the al dente stage, but when I’ve made this recipe with linguine, it took about 10 minutes.
While your pasta is cooking, use scissors to cut the seaweed into thin matchsticks and place in a small bowl. A variety that I like is Shirakiku Organic Roasted Seaweed, but there are lots of other good quality organic “seaweed snacks” on the market.
Spoon out a few tablespoons of orange and/or black Caviart (or another vegan caviar) into small bowls.
When your pasta is cooked to your taste, reserve about two cups of hot pasta water before you drain the pasta into the colander, over the thinly sliced spinach leaves which will flash cook them.
Put the contents of the colander (pasta and steamed spinach) back in the hot pot and add the room temperature Boursin and butter, mixing well.
After plating your pasta into warm pasta bowls, decorate it with scallions, seaweed strips, and dot with the orange or black Caviart®, and freshly ground black pepper. Grind some freshly ground pepper on top and enjoy your creation. This is one pasta dish that doesn’t need Parmesan!
- ½ lb. organic fettuccine, (linguini or spaghetti will also work well)
- 2 -3 large handfuls of fresh spinach, washed, stemmed, and thinly sliced into ribbons (about 3 cup sliced spinach leaves)
- 5.3 ounce package Boursin, room temperature
- 2-3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- Bunch of scallions, thinly sliced
- Several sheets of organic roasted nori, kelp, or another seaweed, cut with scissors into thin matchsticks
- 2 Tablespoons Caviart (orange and/or black) or another vegan caviar
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Bring a large pot of water to a roiling boil while you assemble all your other ingredients. Add a tablespoon of kosher salt to the boiling water and add your pasta. Cook the pasta according to package directions.
- Put the thinly sliced spinach into the colander. Reserve about 2 cups of the cooking water, drain the pasta over the spinach (thus cooking it in an instant), and return the pasta and spinach to the still very warm pot.
- Add the softened Boursin and butter to the pasta and spinach, mixing well. Thin with some of the reserved pasta water as needed to get a creamy smooth consistency.
- Plate the pasta in warm pasta bowls. On one half of the pasta, sprinkle some of the scallions, seaweed strips, and dot with the Caviart, going for a random effect. Grind some fresh ground pepper on top and enjoy!
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