I’ve been making this vegan pasta in creamy cashew sauce for the longest time. The meatless recipe features mushrooms and asparagus for a healthy, filling dinner.
This was one of the first recipes I tried making vegan because I used to love creamy mushroom pasta. It was what I ordered every time I went anywhere Italian. In fact, I’m pretty sure it was one of my all-time favourite dishes! I was the one that introduced my husband to it. And he fell in love with it too! We used to be regulars at a couple of Italian restaurants in Melbourne and later Bendigo when we lived there. And we both used to order the same thing every time.
I came up with the sauce after trialing a bunch of different vegan versions online. I tweaked them all to my liking and ended up with this creamy sauce that I use on a lot of other pasta and risotto dishes. The best thing about this is that it’s very creamy thick and delicious. But you can eat a lot of it without feeling like terrible in the end. My husband prefers it over all the creamy pasta we used to eat. He told me he would pay big money to have this recipe served to him at a restaurant. The baby liked it too! Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do!
Ingredients
- Pasta of choice (I used wholemeal or spelt penne or fettuccine )
- 2 punnets button mushrooms or mushrooms of choice
- 1 400g can cannellini beans drained and rinsed
- Asparagus or broccolini (optional)
- 1 onion diced
- 1-2 garlic cloves
- ⅓ cup cashews
- 1 cup soy milk
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp tahini
- ½ tsp paprika
- 1 TBSP nutritional yeast
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Parsley as garnish
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions.
- Gently stream green veggies, broccolini or asparagus and set aside
- In a blender place cashews, soy milk, tahini, paprika, nutritional yeast, and lemon juice. Allow to sit as you prepare the rest of the meal so the cashews can absorb the liquid.
- Wash and chop mushrooms into thick slices and set aside. You don't need to be neat.
- Dice onion and fry in a little olive oil over medium heat until translucent . Add crushed garlic and fry for a couple more minutes until fragrant.
- Add chopped mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms have reduced in size and all the water they give off has evaporated. Add salt and pepper as you go.
- Blend sauce in the blender until smooth and creamy.
- Drain pasta once cooked and add to mushroom mixture.
- Pour over creamy sauce and mix well to combine.
- Mix in steamed broccolini I or asparagus and toss through cannellini beans
- Adjust seasoning and mix through chopped fresh parsley.
Additional Recipes
For more vegan meals that are as delicious as they are filling, try making my meaty vegan sausage rolls with walnuts and lentils. The rolls feature a crispy puff pastry and a filling made with lentils, rolled oats, and walnuts. Various seasonings are used to give the rolls their signature flavor. These include garlic powder, mixed herbs, tamari, and barbecue sauce.
You can also try my vegan sweet and sour tempeh if you’re craving something Asian-inspired. The vegan sweet and sour tempeh is packed with flavor! Serve it over brown rice or noodles for a deliciously filling meal. You can also customize it with your favorite veggies.
This recipe was republished with permission from Hazel and Cacao.
