Vegan/vegetarian pasta with parmesan.

I don't eat much pasta but when I come across a fresh, handmade, organic ravioli , which also happens to be vegan or vegetarian , I knew I'd found something rather special to put in the freezer for an emergency meal, unexpected guests or even a visiting vegan! I found this delicious pasta at the weekly Byron Bay Farmer's Market recently.  (How I wish we had a market like this at home!) Made by the Byron Gourmet Pasta Company, owner Tom Ahern uses only locally sourced ingredients: the vegan ravioli is made from rocket, macadamia & basil, & the vegetarian option has added ricotta cheese.  Both are completely yum!

And to bang my 'eat clean, eat local' drum yet again, who doesn't love parmesan but hates the way most of it is mass produced?  Well the local Pimp My Salad people have come up with a fab vegan alternative: cashew parmesan, which sprinkled on the ravioli made it taste like the real thing and when served with a green salad, and washed down with a glass of red wine, made the meal just perfection personified and totally vegan. (Yes, I even checked the wine!)

You can, on-line, buy the cashew parmesan & all the other vegan goodies that Extraordinary Foods make such as kale chips, coconut "bacon" bits, & seed sprinkles etc., with a special discount they have agreed to give you.  Just pop in the code SUZI15 to get 15% off at Extraordinary Foods.  Much cheaper than the shops.

Coconut parmesan completes this vegan pasta meal.

For those of you adventurous enough to make your own ravioli, the ingredients can't be hard to put together. Macadamia nuts are used a lot here in Australia and make a very creamy cheese substitute once they're ground up.  Just add basil pesto & a bit of rocket & you've got a delicious vegan ravioli filling. And for the rest of us who want vegetarian & maybe can't source macadamias that easily, a little added ricotta cheese will do the trick.

Meanwhile, I will be hunting for a similar version of this awesome pasta once I'm back in the UK, pity I can't bring it back in my case!

Do let me know if you can find products like these in your local Farmer's Market or if you make your own pasta and fillings.  I will be extremely jealous either way!

I'm off to New Zealand for a week so I can renew my Australian visa by leaving the country & coming back in. Really looking forward to a bit of city life in Wellington & a complete change in temperature. 

See you soon,