Pasta with Creamy Green Sauce
Ingredients
Sauce
- 1/2 cup raw, unsalted cashews
- 6 cups roughly chopped dino kale, stems removed
- 1 loosely packed cup fresh basil leaves, stems removed
- 1/2 loosely packed cup Italian parsley, thick stems removed
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened, unflavored oat milk, cashew milk, or almond milk
- Crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
- Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
- Pink sea salt, to taste
Pasta
- 1 1/2 cups short cut pasta (I used Torchiette, and I like Banza rotini for gluten-free option)
- 1/2 cup roughly chopped artichoke hearts
- 1/2 cup frozen sweet green peas
- 1/2 cup small broccoli florets, roasted or steamed until crisp tender (optional)
Toppings
- Roughly chopped heirloom or vine tomatoes (quartered cherry tomatoes work too), if in season
- Sprouted pepitas or roughly chopped pistachios
- Thinly sliced fresh basil
Instructions
- For the sauce, bring a small pot of water to a boil. Remove from heat, then soak the cashews for 10 minutes. Drain. In a high-power blender, blend the cashews, kale, basil, parsley, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, rice vinegar, milk, crushed red pepper flakes, cracked black pepper, and salt until smooth. Taste, and adjust ingredients if you wish.
- Cook the pasta about 1 minute short of al dente, then add the frozen peas. Cook for 1 more minute. Drain, then return the pasta and peas to the hot pot over the same burner, turned off. Add the artichokes, and broccoli if using, plus enough sauce to generously coat. (I had some leftover sauce.) Gently fold until the residual heat warms the sauce.
- Spoon the pasta into a bowl, then top with fresh tomatoes, pepitas or pistachios, and fresh basil. Serve with lemon wedges.