Earlier this week I was invited to an impromptu potluck event for a large number of people. I wasn’t sure what other people might be bringing and knew I would have less than 2 hours to cook and get over to the event. I had no time to shop and still not very many fresh ingredients in the house due to the move.

When I got home, I looked around to see what I had an abundence of. I had a quarter of a very large red onion, a big bottle of “real” lemon juice, vegan “chicken” bouillon and a LOT of pasta due to a recent trip to Costco. I decided to whip up a big family-sized batch of my Velvet Lemon Mushroom pasta sauce. I followed the general procedure, but swapped out garlic powder for fresh garlic, and dropped the mushrooms and white wine. I also quadrupled it and made a big pot of this lemon gravy. I left the onions a bit uncooked which led to crunchy delicious pink-purple onion bits throughout.

Then I poured half of it over a pound of rigatoni,  gave it a good mix and off I went to the potluck. The dish was a hit and one of the few vegan entrees among savory meat dishes and many desserts. The bowl was empty by the time the event was over.

The other half of the sauce was used last night when I added it to a pound of rotini and threw in some meatballs. I’m enjoying the non-dairy creaminess as I type. This just goes to show that a very basic sauce can be adjusted for any number of circumstances. I know for a fact that the same sauce goes great on chicken too!