I used to make the odd béchamel in my pre-vegan days. I found the average cream sauce a bit boring- garlic and rich cream I always wanted it to be a bit more interesting. So here is my No cream Cream Sauce with lots of other things in it! I usually try to keep my processed food to a minimum but this does have the odd ready to go ingredient for a speedy dinner! Should take about 30 minutes.

I use a wok to cook this, mainly due to the fact that it easier to toss the spinach in.

I am listing the ingredients in the order they go in to the wok / pot.

Ingredients

• 1 big dessertspoon of organic raw coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon of organic yellow mustard seed
• 1 teaspoon organic cumin seed
• A couple of twists of black pepper
• 1 organic leek- evenly chopped doesn’t have to be very fine.
• 5 cloves of organic garlic- this does- so very finely chopped
• 8 organic chestnut mushrooms
• 200g/ 8oz of organic baby spinach- well washed ( I sometimes find critters in mine )
• 1 big teaspoon of organic dried oregano
• 1 tin organic pinto beans- no sugar no salt or a generous cup of ones you have cooked from dry
• 250ml carton of Oat cream – you can substitute another unsweetened non diary cream*
• 1 dessertspoon of basil paste or about 10/12 fresh leaves
• More black pepper- to taste
• 3 dessertspoons of organic ground almonds

You can serve this with pasta or noodles, something the sauce will get all over!

Instructions

Wash your mushroom and baby spinach and set aside.

Put your coconut oil in the wok on a medium high heat to leave melt.

Peel and chop your leek- don’t use the green bits that are really tough. Chop your five cloves of garlic remove the greeny yellow bits in the centre, they are hard to digest and don’t taste great.

Put your yellow mustard seed and cumin seed in the pan. Add the black pepper. Leave to sizzle a bit.

Now add the leek, sauté until soft ( a few minutes ) and add your finely chopped garlic.

Keep and eye on your wok/ pot whilst chopping and throwing your mushrooms into the wok. I do the first half in biggish chunks  ( chopped in 4 or 6) and the second half I finely chop so it gives lots of flavour to the sauce. Leave these cook for a bit- so they have started to shrink and they have given off some of their juices. You can turn the heat down to medium.

If you are having pasta or noodles you could put them on to cook.

Now add your spinach- do half first, tossing it everything else. When it has wilted a little add the rest and toss again.

Add your oregano. Mixing it through your ingredients.

Add your pinto beans, mix thoroughly and let everything cook for a minute or two so the beans are heated and some more of the water has evaporated off.

Now add your carton of oat cream and your basil paste or leaves.

*a note on the cream- the reason I use oat so I don’t like to use too much soya unless it is fermented .As long as it is an unsweetened pouring cream it should work though.

Add more black pepper. You could add a little sea salt at this stage but the basil paste I get has so sea salt in it so I don’t.

The final ingredient is ground almonds- these give a lovely richness to the sauce and also help thicken it. Turn the heat off and get your pasta/ noodles ready – you can add the pasta to the sauce if you like. Because my partner has regular whole-wheat ones and I tend to be having gluten free ones we pour the have yummy sauce over them on the plate.

it’s tasty try it out!