Whole Wheat Pasta with Smoky Tahini Sauce

I have been following Bonzai Aphrodite for quite a while now, at least a couple of years. Recently, she posted a link to a raw tahini dip that "done stole her heart". After I made this dip I was hooked too. I kept imagining all the ways that I could incorporate more smoky tahini flavor into my life, and dreamed of a creamy pasta sauce. I also have Robin Robertson's cookbook, Vegan Planet. In it she has a Tahini Rotini recipe that is pretty good. I figured these two recipes could morph into something wonderful and happily they did.

This pasta is smoky, creamy and totally addictive. Okay, so it won't win any beauty contests, but a blind taste test, maybe :)

Whole Wheat Pasta with Smoky Tahini Sauce

Ingredients:

13 oz whole wheat medium shells

1/4 cup vegan margarine
1/3 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup tahini
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tbsp liquid smoke
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 - 1 cup water (you can reserve some from cooking the pasta)
black sesame seeds (optional for serving)

Directions:

Boil the pasta in heavily salted water according to the package directions.

While the pasta is cooking you can start your sauce. Melt the margarine in a non-stick pan over medium heat, and add the flour. Stir to make a paste and cook for a few minutes to brown the flour. Then add the tahini, nutritional yeast, liquid smoke, soy sauce, lemon juice and garlic powder.

Pour the sauce over the pasta and mix to combine. Squeeze some fresh lemon juice over each serving of pasta and add some black sesame seeds to make it look pretty.

For 8 servings: nutritional information from caloriecount.about.com

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 121 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories  364 Calories from Fat  158

% Daily Value*

Total Fat  17.6g 27%

Saturated Fat  3.3g 17%

Cholesterol  0mg 0%

Sodium  327mg 14%

Potassium  224mg 6%

Total Carbohydrates  43.5g 15%

Dietary Fiber  8.2g 33%

Protein  13.9g

Vitamin A 5% • Vitamin C 1% Calcium 11% • Iron 30%

Nutrition Grade B+

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet