(This post contains a review of Violife Cheese. I was not compensated in any way for this post, and the opinions expressed are my own.)

I love pasta. I especially love switching up my pasta dishes from the typical marinara sauce with meatballs or veggies and doing something completely different. For the last few days, I’ve had an idea for a recipe swimming around in my head. I wanted to make a pasta dish that was light yet rich with flavor, and that didn’t require tomatoes and would incorporate the bottle of capers that were sitting in my fridge begging to be used. After spending an entire day with my Italian bestie, I was inspired to breathe life into this idea.

I’d originally planned on using Beyond Meat chick’n strips for this, but a trip to Publix to buy them resulted in me finding the Gardein chick’n scallopini, which sounded like an even better option for this recipe. You could use whichever option sounds best to you. Both are equally tasty, and similarly priced.

LEMON CAPER SCALLOPINI

8 oz pasta of choice, prepared to package directions (I used gluten-free rotini from Trader Joe’s.)

1 cup pasta cooking water reserved (This helps thicken the sauce.)

3 tbsp olive oil

1/2 red onion, diced

8 oz ,mushrooms, sliced

10-15 cloves garlic, minced (Yes, that’s a lot. Yes, I LOVE garlic. Use less, if you like.)

4 Gardein Chick’n scallopini cutlets, frozen

1 tbsp capers

3 lemons, juice only

1 cup white wine (I used 14 Hands white blend from Washington state.)

2 tbsp gluten free flour

1 tsp sea salt

4-5 cups fresh spinach

1 cup fresh basil

Directions: Cook your pasta according to package directions, drain (reserving the 1 cup of cooking water), and set aside. In a large skillet (I used my iron skillet), add the olive oil and heat over medium. Once the oil is hot, add the onion, garlic, and mushrooms and saute until the mushrooms become slightly golden brown and the onions begin to caramelize. At this point, lay the scallopini cutlets on top of the veggies, reduce heat to medium low, and cover to thaw the cutlets. This should only take about 5-7 minutes. Once the cutlets are thawed, uncover and flip them by scooping all the veggies underneath to the top, so one side of the cutlets are touching the bottom of the pan. You want them to brown a little bit at this point. After about 10 minutes, the cutlets should be slightly browned, and they can be removed from the pan. I cooked them this way to get some of the garlic, mushroom, and onion flavors into them. Once you remove the cutlets, add the capers, white wine, lemon juice, and reserved pasta water to the veggies and stir. Once the sauce mixture comes to a simmer, sprinkle in the gluten-free (or gluten-full, should you feel so inclined) flour one tbsp at a time and whisk it into the mixture. This will help thicken the sauce. Reduce heat to low and allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes or until it reaches a gravy-like consistency. The sauce will be ready at this point, so you can add the spinach and basil and allow it to wilt. Once the greens are wilted, stir in your cooked pasta. You can add the cutlets back in at this point, if you’d like or keep them dry. I added mine back and let it absorb some of the sauce, then served it with the cutlet on top of the pasta and drizzled with extra sauce. I topped it with Violife parmesan and a handful of pine nuts. (Side note: I know I was whining a couple of weeks back about pine nuts being so expensive, but then I found a bag of them at Trader Joe’s for, I think, $5.99!!)

And about that cheese…

If you haven’t tried Violife yet, OH MY GAWD! It’s so amazing. It comes in a block just like dairy parmesan, and grates exactly the same. The flavor is strong and salty, just how I like it. I doubt any non-vegan would know the difference by appearance or flavor. The only downside is that it’s not readily available everywhere just yet, BUT I contacted the company via Instagram, and we discussed where would be a good home for them here in my town. I’m hoping I’ll soon be spared the 45 minute drive to a Whole Foods, but if you’re close to one, they do carry it currently. I’m picky about my vegan cheeses, and this one is now my favorite.