Vegan Cacio e Pepe
Select a pot for boiling water for pasta. Boil water in pot with top on (it will boil faster) with 1 tsp of salt added to the water.
While the water is boiling, put 4oz of plant butter in a microwave safe bowl and melt until a liquid consistency. Take out of microwave. Add white miso paste and mix until paste is dissolved. Add nutritional yeast, 1/2 of the lemon juice, olive oil, and black pepper and mix with a spoon until smooth. Will look like a paste mixture and will be thick.
Once the water is boiling cook pasta to an al dente texture. You will be transferring the pasta to a separate sauté pan and cooking it for a little longer. So you want pasta slightly under cooked. Do not pour out the precious pasta water. That stuff is gold!
Once the pasta is done, transfer with a tongs to a large sauté pan with high sides. Add your miso mixture, chickpeas, other 1/2 of lemon juice, and two ladles of water from the cooked pasta water.
Cook on medium and mix. Watch it bubble and the sauce thicken. Cook until it’s creamy and not watery.
Add to your favorite bowl. Top with more black pepper and chives.