Vegan Alfredo Pasta

Vegan Alfredo Pasta

This right here is the ONLY vegan alfredo pasta recipe you need!
It is my absolute favorite and that is saying something considering I’ve never met a pasta dish I didn’t like.

The sauce is a creamy alfredo made from soaked cashews, but with so much more flavor and much healthier! There is no dairy, no cream, no heavy butter, but all of the smooth richness you know and love about alfredo dishes. I could go on and on about how much I love this recipe but really I think you should just start making it right now! I have some tips at the end, so be sure to read through the recipe fully before beginning to make your life easier.

*Recipe is adapted from Fit Foodie Finds

Ingredients:

1 cup raw unsalted cashews soaked or boiled until softened

2 medium tomatoes, quartered OR one 28 oz can of whole tomatoes

2-3 medium yellow onions, quartered

4-5 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

A drizzle of olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1 lb box of pasta

Handful of chopped fresh basil

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF
2. Soak cashews in water for 3 hours until softened. If unable to soak, bring cashews to boil on the stove and boil for 10 minutes to soften.
3. Place tomatoes, onions, and garlic onto a baking sheet and drizzle generously with olive oil. Toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Roast vegetables for 20 minutes.
4. While vegetables are roasting, cook pasta according to package instructions.
5. Remove baking sheet from oven, peel skin from tomatoes, and roast for an additional 10 minutes. If tomatoes are canned, they will not need skins peeled. 
6. Rinse cashews and set aside.
7. Transfer all ingredients on the baking sheet, including juices, into a blender along with cashews, and blend until smooth.
   If needed, add unsweetened non-dairy milk, vegetable broth or water to thin, if the mixture is too thick. I will add tomatoes, onions and garlic little by little and adjust according to taste. Sometimes I make it with more tomatoes, other times with more onion. I just blend and add little by little to adjust flavor to my liking.
8. Toss drained pasta with sauce and top with fresh basil, salt, and pepper.

Notes:

If you don’t have a high-powered blender, run cashews through a food processor and then in a blender with vegetables for a smoother consistency.

The “hardest” part of this recipe is skinning the tomatoes. I highly suggest roasting them with skins up for the first half of roasting as the skin peels much easier. Use a fork to remove the skin. If your skins are being stubborn, continue roasting until more blistered, they should peel right off.

If you like more tomato flavor, add more tomatoes. This recipe is very forgiving and easily adjusted to taste.