Since becoming vegan, I've been trying to find new recipes and new substitutes to old favourites (and after the great response from my last post, I thought that I'd share a quick recipe!). As a vegan, dried pasta is all good, however it's key to note that fresh pasta that you have to keep in the fridge will contain egg. But with dried pasta, it's cheaper, it lasts longer, and it's tastes just as good - Especially with this recipe!
One of my favourite types of sauces is a creamy sauce, and so finding a dairy-free version that I love became tricky for me. Luckily, when watching lots and lots of vegan YouTubers, I came across this recipe from my favourite, Liv. After watching a few more recipes, I've found that in order to produce any type of creamy sauce, cashews are your best friend. By using soaked cashews and non-diary milk, when blended produces a beautiful white sauce which really does work. When using non-diary milk, my favourite is coconut as when I've used almond milk in the past, it can produce quite a sweet taste (even when using unsweetened).
Since becoming vegan, I've made this recipe countless times and it's truly become one of my favourite meals to make. As a topping I also love avocado, or even guacamole, along with some dried parsley to garnish. For a meal, this would work great all year round, as a summer pasta salad, or a warming hearty meal too. I'd say that this recipe feeds 2-3 people depending on how big your portion sizes are; which for me would serve, well, just me. But if you find that there's extra sauce left-over, then chilling this in the fridge once cooled is perfect and can last 2-3 days.
Don't get me wrong, I'm no qualified chef myself, this recipe is simply something shared from another. For me now, cooking is something that I don't see as a burden, but something I enjoy, and so no I'm not announcing a food blog any time soon, but if there's ever something I think to share then I will. And I hope that you can enjoy them as much as I do!
I N G R E D I E N T S :
2 Cups Dried Pasta
2 Garlic Cloves
1 Pack of Cherry Tomatoes (250g)
1 Tsp Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
3/4 Cup Cashews
3/4 Cup Non-diary Milk
1/4 Cup Pasta Water
Paprika
Parsley
2 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
M E T H O D :
1. Boil pasta accordingly, usually I boil a kettle and pour into a pan on high, also adding a little salt as the water's boiling. Then add the dried pasta and turn down to a medium heat until cooked. With some of the boiling water from the kettle, in a cup or container, also soak the cashews for as long as possible - This so they soften and can blend easier later on.
2. Chop the cherry tomatoes by halving them, and dicing the garlic or use a garlic press. You'll then want to add olive oil to a hot pan and cook the garlic through on a medium heat. After about a minute, add the chopped cherry tomatoes to the pan and cook until softened. Here I also squish the tomatoes down which releases all of the lovely tomato juice with the garlic oil, and season with salt and pepper.
3. While they're softening, combine the non-dairy milk and drained cashews into a blender, and blend until smooth - Here also adding a little salt and pepper for seasoning. For this I have a Nutri Ninja which does the job well, but really you just want a smooth consistency.
4. Into the pan, add the cashew cream mix with the cherry tomatoes, and stir through until combined. To this, as an option you can add some nutritional yeast, as well as seasoning with salt, pepper, paprika and dried parsley. The nutritional yeast will help in thickening the sauce which I love, however if the consistency isn't right for you, then adding some of the starchy pasta water will thin it out.
5. You're then finished, and can serve with some extra dried parsley and avocado on top. If you want, usually supermarket's own brand of garlic bread (Like ASDA and Tesco) is also vegan, just check the ingredients on the back if you're not sure.
*RECIPE UPDATE: If you've haven't got cashews and non-dairy milk to hand, try adding a spoonful of hummus instead, it surprisingly works*
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