The people have spoken! AND, they want plenty of pasta recipes. Hearty and savory recipes that feel indulgent while using all clean + real food ingredients. Let’s face it, we all want cozy + comfort food we can feel good about eating. You may find this little recipe highly appealing because:
- It’s 100% Vegan, but tastes as cheesy as non-dairy cheese gets! Total win-win.
- Looks, tastes, and feels fancy on 30 min prep time… hint: date night
- Even non-vegans (myself included) who look for dairy-free food that tastes great will be hooked
Sure, I’ve ventured in the realm of endless pasta possibilities before. There’s a recipe for a Buckwheat Soba Spaghetti as well as a homemade pasta sauce. There’s also my Thai-inspired Sweet Potato Noodles complete with garlic shrimp.. But you guys want more, and you don’t want exactly soba or veg noodles, either. After I posted my hunky dinner plate of 4-mushroom GF penne pasta at one of my favorite Italian restaurants in Toronto; I was flooded with recipe requests for said dish.
Well, this is inspired on said bowl- except it’s completely dairy-free and gets that cheesy light truffle cream sauce taste from none other than… C-A-S-H-E-W-S ! Yep, you read that right (insert bold letters and conspicuous spacing :P). The same good ol’ raw cashews I make vegan cheesecake from. The same handful of raw cashews that make my smoothies denser and creamier. The same cashews that I use for my cashew cream cheese spread. Starting to make sense? Cashews are the best source of cheesy goodness, aside from cheese.
Mushroom and Cashew Alfredo Pasta
Ingredients
- a large handful each of crimini, oyster, portobello and shiitake mushrooms. (OR, 2 cups of chopped/washed mushrooms of your choice)
- 1 cup of fresh organic spinach
- 1-2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
- 2-3 cups of your favorite GF brown rice, quinoa or corn pasta
- 1 tsp of red chilli flakes
- 1 tbsp of low sodium Tamari (gluten-free soy sauce)
*You’ll need a food processor or high-speed blender for the sauce
For the Cashew Alfredo sauce:
- 1 + 2/3 cups raw cashews soaked (for at least 4 hours)
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 3 large cloves of garlic, finely minced
- 3 tbsp of nutritional yeast
- 1 + 1/4 cup water or bone broth
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water with a pinch of sea salt to a boil and add the pasta. Cook for about 8-10 mins, I like it a bit “al dente” and then drain. I like to add a pinch of chilli oil to the pasta after draining, keeps it from sticking together.
- In your food processor, throw in all the sauce ingredients and process until it’s smooth and creamy. If you feel it’s too thick, add a pinch more water or broth and then blend again.
- In a skillet or medium to large sauce pan, warm up the extra virgin olive oil. Add the mushrooms and allow them to soften and brown a bit. Add the tamari sauce, stir well, then throw in the spinach (always do this last). I then add some cooked pasta and cashew sauce to the pan and give it a good toss. Serve immediately.
- Note: with my method: the sauce will be mostly absorbed by the pasta- but it’s so dang tasty! Alternatively, you can add the pasta at the very end over the served plates for a more “saucy presentation”.
- Top with a sprinkle of red pepper flakes, coarse black pepper, hemp hearts for protein or even fresh parsley. Enjoy!! x
By: Aleyda/ The Dish On Healthy
