vegan capellini nests

this is a recipe i adapted from frank stitt's heavy-cream-butter-parmigiano recipe in"bottega favorites" which you can find at http://cookandeat.com/2009/03/04/capellini-gratin/i often use vegetable bouillon or broth to saute in order to cut down on the fat in a dish. in this case i added a little flour to create a creamy textured sauce to moisten the pasta nests while they baked.
oiled muffin tins work well for baking the capellini.
and, avocado & walnuts add some good fat in place of animal fat.

the end product is pretty & satisfying even to my taste tester, jim, who is a give-me-the-real-deal-not-that-bland-tofu kind of eater!

vegan capellini nests

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 lb. capellini

• 2 c veg. broth

• about 1-2 tbl flour

• olive oil

• 1 avocado chopped

• about 3/4 c of roughly chopped walnuts

• chopped fresh parsley or chives

* salt & peper

1. whisk the flour into the veg. broth & simmer until reduced by 1/2. 

2. boil the capellini until al dente. drain completely. 

3. over med heat, toast the walnuts in a large, wide skillet coated with olive oil, just until browned- season w/salt & pepper.

preheat the oven to 475 degrees.

coat the cups of a muffin tin w/olive oil. put a handful of capellini into each cup & swirl into a nest shape. pour a little of the reduced broth into each nest and bake until the top is golden and bubbly. let the nests rest about 10 min.

serve topped with chopped avocado, toasted walnuts, chopped parley & seasoned w/salt & pepper.