no-fuss chickpea sauce with penne

Fuss-free chickpea sauce is savory, sweet, even a bit cheesy, and a favorite for a quick delicious pasta dinner or a dress up for your favorite veggies.

When time gets away, and proactive planning is superseded by hunger reaction, that doesn’t mean abandoning a healthy, plant-based meal for something on the less-healthy side. Nope, we don’t fall for that one. So, quiet the naughty voice that trying to lead you astray, set your phone aside, this is no time for takeout.

It’s time for chickpea sauce.

This is a little ole chickpea sauce. It isn’t an alfredo or bechamel, which should prepare you for the fact that it won’t be a white sauce. Between the chickpeas and the carrots, you'll have color. But it is those two ingredients, in particular, that give this sauce a depth of flavor.

When I initially set out to create a nut-free white sauce, I couldn’t achieve the satisfying depth of flavor I wanted. Most certainly, some cashews would have helped, but that’s defeating the purpose. I also tried various kinds of white beans without the benefit of sweet carrots, but the flavor was never as good.

By all means, if you have a great recipe using white beans (sans nuts), please, share it with me. I’m always on the lookout for a great sauce.  Meantime, I’m pledging my alliance with the chickpea sauce. 

Here’s all you need:

Chickpeas (I know, you figured that)

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup diced carrot

4 cloves minced garlic

2 teaspoons dried oregano

½ teaspoon red chili flakes (you can use cayenne pepper too)

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

2 tablespoons lemon juice

½ - 1 cup of vegetable broth

The secret of this sauce is not so very secret. You’ll find inside the can of chickpeas.

Aquafaba – the liquid in the can

Chances are, you’ve heard about the magic of aquafaba.

At the least, you’ve drained it off a time or two. So have I (a time or two).  I’ve come to realize that aquafaba is a useful thickener for sauces and give them a bit of a lift and more nutty chickpea flavor. 

If you want to use chickpeas that you cooked from scratch and are happily sitting in the fridge waiting to be called up, no worries. Just add more vegetable broth until you get the sauce to the consistency you like.

If you want a smooth sauce, there is an important step you don't want to skip. It's a simple one. Cook the onions and carrots until they are very soft. If the carrots are still crunchy when you add them to the food processor, your sauce will taste great. It just won’t blend as easily.

There are two ways to make this softening process easier. First, keep the heat of the pan low and cook the carrots a bit longer. Second, think small. Dice the carrots into small cubes or slice them super thin.

I recommend you start by heating the pan to medium-low and then adding the onions and carrots.  As soon as the onions begin to soften (about 5 minutes), add ½ cup of vegetable broth. This will allow the carrots to steam a bit and help them soften up

 a bit more quickly without the onions getting too brown. Be sure to keep the heat low as you go.

Once the carrots start to soften, add the garlic, oregano, and chili flakes. Because you are keeping the heat relatively low, you can let the garlic cook for about 2 minutes. This allows the oregano time to rehydrate a bit.

The flavor of this sauce is a combination of savory and sweet with just a bit of cheesy taste courtesy of the nutritional yeast. You won’t want much more flavor except perhaps a few turns of the pepper mill or a garnish of fresh basil or parsley if you happen to have them.

Does this yummy chickpea sauce freeze?

By golly, it does! This is a great sauce to have ready to roll because while you're getting it out of the freezer, you can have a look and decide what frozen veggies you want to pour it over.

Want a complete meal without pasta? Try adding some veggies and cooked quinoa or rice with this sauce. I’m up for that.

How to reheat this sauce

Like a lot of other sauces, this one can thicken up once it starts to cool or has been in the fridge. If you reheat the sauce on its own, add a bit of water or vegetable broth to thin it out.

If you are reheating with pasta, rice, or another grain, it’s simplest to accomplish using the microwave. On the stovetop, be sure to keep the heat low and absolutely add some liquid. Otherwise, it will stick to the pan. That's always annoying. 

Final thoughts

You don’t need to wait for the dog to bite or bee to sting to enjoy a favorite sauce. That’s as long as you keep it healthy, plant-based, and oil-free, even better. The 'cleaner' and the better it is, the more you get to have. How's that for better? Peace.

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