I’ve been meaning to make vegan alfredo for a long time. Well, I made it once with nutritional yeast flakes and hemp milk, along with seasoning of course. However, it was quite…um, disgusting. I found this recipe on sugar-skull.com and modified it for my own personal taste/quantity wanted. Plus, I didn’t have a few things. Here is my version of the recipe that made me so proud that I made this! Pasta is something I don’t eat much of, but this will definitely be made again.

• 2 cups raw cashews
• 2 1/4 cups hot water (I took it straight from the pasta water)
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 1/2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

Put the water on the burner for the pasta, and begin to boil. While my pasta water was started, I soaked the raw cashews (important step for smoothness!). It was about, 10 minutes or so. You can soak longer, but I’d recommend not to soak any less. After the pasta water boiled, I threw in the pasta, let it come back to a boil and removed the 2 1/4 cups of hot water. I drained the cashews, threw them in a food processor and added the hot water. Blend until cashew cream is smooth. Add garlic cloves, salt, black pepper, nutritional yeast and olive oil. Blend until smooth (you can’t over blend! I left it on for about 2 minutes or so, and it became frothy). If you like the alfredo to be a little thinner, add more water, a table spoon or two at a time.

I also roasted asparagus with Lawry’s salt, garlic powder and olive oil on 350 for 15-20 minutes. I sauteed broccoli, mushrooms, and onions in a pan with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder (Garlic is amazing!!). It made a good addition to the alfredo and pasta. I love lots of vegetables in my pasta!

This is a thick sauce, and will probably feed about four. It’s also quite garlic-y! It made it a little spicy, so leave out a clove or two if you’d like. This tastes like a dairy-version, which is great since this is also healthier and packed full of protein with the cashews. I’m going to go eat some more now…