Comforting and creamy, this vegetarian gigli pasta with mushrooms and asparagus hits the spot. Cauliflower and cashews blend together to make a rich and thick cream sauce that's light, dairy-free, flour-free and oil-free. The curly gigli (aka campanelle) holds onto the alfredo-style sauce for a delicious Italian-inspired plant-based dinner.

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This recipe is vegan, vegetarian, plant-based and wfpbno (whole food plant based no oil).

This dish is more rich than my everyday creamy cauliflower alfredo sauce, since it has cashews added to it. However, with no added oil and all plant-based ingredients, it is a delicious drool-worthy pasta recipe to keep on hand for weeknight dinners and serving company alike.

🧄 Very useful ingredient notes

prepped ingredients laid out: cauliflower florets, almond milk, raw cashews, garlic, sea salt and ground black pepper

package of gigli pasta campanelle pasta scattered on counter

Not pictured above: sliced button or baby portobello mushrooms and asparagus pieces

Gigli pasta - also known as campanelle pasta, this frilly bell-shaped pasta is well-suited to the creamy vegan white sauce, since the dairy-free sauce clings to the curly ribbons and gets trapped into the flower-shaped cones
Cauliflower - fresh cauliflower makes up the bulk of this sauce, keeping the béchamel-like sauce light compared to a sauce made from only cashews or flour. It is also full of veggies before even adding your asparagus and mushrooms. Save time by using pre-cut cauliflower florets, if your grocery store carries them.
Raw cashews - cashews add richness and body to the sauce
Button mushrooms - mushrooms are essential to this vegan creamy mushroom pasta. They add a savory, umami flavor to the whole pasta dish. Amp up the mushroom flavor by adding half of a teaspoon of dried ground mushroom powder or mushroom bouillon to the sauce before blending.

📋 Substitutions and variations

Here are some suitable substitutions for the ingredients:

Gigli pasta - use campanelle pasta (another name for gigli) or another medium sized pasta, like casarecce, gemelli, penne, rotini, conchiglie or medium shells
Fresh cauliflower - use 32 ounces (2 pounds or about 8-9 cups) frozen cauliflower florets/pieces instead
Fresh garlic cloves - substitute with minced garlic (2 teaspoons) or garlic powder (1 teaspoon) but fresh is recommended
Unsweetened almond milk - substitute with another unsweetened, unflavored plant-based milk like oat milk, cashew milk, soy milk, etc.
Mushrooms - substitute white button mushrooms with baby portobello mushrooms, large portobello mushrooms cut into pieces or your favorite mushrooms (chanterelle, shiitake, oyster, etc.)
Asparagus - omit to keep this vegan creamy mushroom pasta purely mushroom. Or, substitute the asparagus with other vegetables like broccoli, frozen california blend, frozen green peas, kale and/or corn

Here are some variation ideas to switch up this recipe:

Spicy - add chili pepper flakes to the finished dish to infuse a little heat to this creamy vegan pasta. Or, use cajun salt, like Tony Chachere's, instead of sea salt while blending the sauce.
Cheesy - add 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast to the sauce before blending. Or, sprinkle on top of the finished meal.
Broccoli - substitute broccoli for sautéed mushrooms and asparagus pieces, like we did in this Gigli Pasta with Broccoli and Vegan White Sauce
Kale and Corn - substitute asparagus and mushrooms for kale and corn, like we did in this Creamy Conchiglie Pasta with Kale and Corn recipe
Nut-free - make this nut-free by making my creamy cauliflower alfredo sauce, which has no cashews. Use a nut-free plant milk when making that sauce recipe.
WFPBNO - make this whole food plant based no oil by using whole wheat pasta
SOS-free - make this SOS-free by omitting the salt

🔪 Instructions

Step-by-step instructions for making vegetarian campanelle pasta with creamy mushrooms and asparagus.

Step 1: Start making the vegan white sauce first: Add cauliflower to medium saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil.

Step 2: Add cashews and garlic and gently boil until the cauliflower is fork tender.

Step 3 when cauliflower is fork tender drain

Step 3: Drain cauliflower, cashews and garlic.

Step 4 add drained cauliflower cashews and remaining ingredients to blender

Step 4: Transfer to blender, along with salt, pepper and almond milk.

Step 5: Blend until completely smooth and thick.

Step 6: Meanwhile, for the pasta, bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Cook gigli pasta according to package instructions.

Step 7: Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms to pan and season lightly with salt and pepper. Sauté 2-3 minutes until lightly browned.

Step 8: Add asparagus to pan with 2 tablespoons of water and sauté for 2-3 minutes, stirring so it cooks evenly. Turn off heat.

Step 9: Reserve 1 cup of pasta water before draining pasta. Drain pasta and add to skillet with vegetables. (If your skillet is not big enough to accommodate all the ingredients, then use the pasta pot to combine everything together)

pasta, vegetables and sauce all combined

Step 10: Turn burner on low heat. Pour enough of the white sauce into the pasta and veggies to coat everything. You may or may not have some leftover. Add ¼ cup reserved pasta water, if needed. Stir and then taste it. Adjust salt and pepper, to taste. Turn off heat. Serve hot.

Expert tips

Make the pasta slightly more saucy than you like. It will thicken in the few minutes of serving it. By the time you enjoy it, it will be perfect. 👌🏼
If you have extra sauce, store it in the refrigerator to add to any leftovers to rehydrate them. If you don't have extra sauce, use a splash of unsweetened plant-based milk (almond, cashew, soy or oat) to rehydrate it.
The key to browning sliced mushrooms without oil is a hot pan. So, let your pan preheat so when you add the mushrooms they'll brown and any liquid will evaporate quickly instead of making them watery.

🥡 Make ahead and storage tips

If you're making this pasta ahead of time, store the prepared white sauce in glass jars separate from the cooked pasta and vegetables. Then, when you're ready to serve it, combine the pasta and sauce, heat and serve.

Any leftovers can be stored, but will thicken more in the fridge, so add extra sauce or a splash of almond milk when reheating leftovers.

Freeze the sauce by itself for up to 3 months in a glass mason jar with an airtight lid. Leave and inch or two of empty room at the top to allow it to expand in the freezer.

☕️ Tea pairing

This recipe would be delicious paired with a woodsy vintage pu-erh tea, which will bring out the earthiness of the mushrooms.

🗺 Cultural influences

Gigli pasta, also known as campanelle pasta, originated from Italy. Campanelle means "bellflowers", "little bells" or "handbells" in Italian.

Campanelle is a type of pasta that is shaped like a cone with a ruffled edge, like a flower. Traditionally, it is served with a thick sauce, whether dairy-based like cheese or béchamel or vegetable-based sauces using lentils, eggplant, beans, pumpkin or other chunky vegetable.

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