Lemon & Garlic Vegan Pasta Alfredo
This recipe and the mouth watering photos come to us from CSA member Natalie Lareau. If you’re not vegan and don’t have nutritional yeast on hand you can easily replace it with grated Parmesan cheese, but of course as a vegan myself I would encourage you to find the nutritional yeast if you can and give the full experience a try. You can get small containers of the Bragg’s brand at most stores, but I like to get it from the bulk bins at Sprout’s to save on cost and packaging.
Other than that, I’ll let Natalie take it away …
Ingredients:
For the Alfredo Sauce:
1 cup raw cashews, soaked
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
cup vegetable broth
1 clove of garlic
Juice of half a lemon
salt and pepper to taste
For everything else:
1 or 2 summer squash, diced
1 package of mushrooms of your choice, sliced
4 gloves of garlic, minced
1 shallot, diced
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup fresh basil
1 sprig of lemon thyme (or 1 tsp dried thyme)
1 cup of fava beans, blanched and peeled
1/2 cup peas (fresh or frozen)
1 package of pasta of your choice
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
**You can add or replace any of these veggies with what you have on hand too! Try adding or replacing vegetables with broccoli, spinach, arugula, or anything else that sounds good!
Cooking instructions:
First, soak the cashews. Measure out 1 cup of raw cashews and rinse under cold water. Add the rinsed cashews to a bowl and cover with water so that they are completely submerged. Cover and let sit for 6+ hours until you are ready to use. You can even do this step the night before, but if you are pressed for time, quick soak them 1 hour before hand with boiling water.
Next, prepare the fava beans. To do so, open up each pod and remove the beans. Boil a pot of water with some salt and prepare a bowl of ice water nearby, get ready to blanch some beans!
Once the water is boiling, place all the beans in the water and leave for 1-2 minutes, by now they should start floating to the top. Remove the beans using a slotted spoon and immediately place them in the ice water. Allow them to cool for a few minutes until they can be handled easily. Drain the beans and now remove the outer skin of the beans. (If you want, you can save the hot water for the pasta that needs to be cooked!)
Next, prepare your cashew "alfredo" sauce. This step requires a blender or a food processor. Put all the ingredients for the sauce in the blender and blend until smooth and creamy. You may need to add more broth in order to get it to the right consistency. If so, add a teaspoon at a time until it is to your liking. Be sure to taste as you go and add more salt/pepper as necessary. Now, set the sauce aside and we will begin to prepare the rest!
Boil a large pot of water with salt, or use the boiling water from the fava beans in order to cook the pasta. While that is cooking, begin prepping your vegetables.
Dice the shallot and mince the garlic. Heat a large wok or pan with a tablespoon of olive oil then add the shallot and garlic. Dice the summer squash and slice your mushrooms to your liking and add to the mix! Allow this to cook for a few minutes until the squash begins to soften. Add your lemon juice and continue to cook.
Cut the basil into ribbons and remove the leaves of the thyme from the stem and add them to the pan. Lastly, add the peas and fava beans and season with salt and pepper to taste. Other spices such as red pepper flakes, truffle, oregano, or an italian mix would compliment the dish as well! Mix the contents of the pan once more to incorporate all the spices and flavors, then remove from the heat.
Drain the pasta and rinse with cold water. Add the drained pasta to the pan and mix everything together. Add the sauce to the pasta and vegetables and mix very well!
Serve with fresh basil and lemon slices and enjoy your vegan pasta alfredo!