Whole Wheat Pasta tossed in a Cashew & Hemp Heart Alfredo Sauce with Snap Peas, Snow Peas, Green Peas and Garlic
DAIRY-FREE/PALEO/PLANT-BASED/SOY-FREE/VEGAN/VEGETARIAN
Total Time: 4 hours and 20 minutes+
Soaking Time: 4 hours or overnight
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Makes: 8 servings (4 cups of sauce)
Allergens: gluten, seeds, tree nuts
Elevate your pasta game with this vegan cashew and hemp heart alfredo recipe with vibrant spring peas and whole wheat pasta!
Skip the heavy cream and parmesan cheese and make a gut friendly, dairy-free dish that everyone will enjoy. This dish is creamy, fresh and perfect for lunch or dinner. Eating a bowl of this plant-based Italian rendition will provide you with a bunch of protein, heart healthy carbohydrates, fiber and calcium.
You can also just make the cashew alfredo and simply have it on hand for later use. Aside from being amazing on noodles, this is also great on steamed veggies, spiralized vegetables or as a sauce for mushrooms or tofu!
Ingredients
SAUCE
- 1 cup of raw cashews, soaked overnight or at least 4 hours
- ¼ c of hemp hearts, soaked overnight or at least 4 hours
- ½ white or yellow onion, peeled and diced
- 5 cloves of garlic, sliced
- 2 tablespoons of hemp oil
- ½ teaspoon of pink himalayan salt
- ¼ teaspoon of ground white pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon of ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
- ¼ cup of nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoons of chickpea miso paste (soy-free)
- 1-½ cups of vegetable stock
- 1 cup of unsweetened hemp milk
PASTA COMPONENTS
- 1 lb of dried whole wheat spaghetti, boiled
- 1-¼ cups or 6 oz of snap peas, julienned
- 1-¼ cups or 6 oz of snow peas, tips removed
- 1-¼ cups or 6 oz of frozen green peas, thawed
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Steps
1.) Soak the cashews and hemp hearts together for at least 4 hours or overnight. Cook your spaghetti as well.
2.) Sauce: Drain the cashews and hemp. In a pan set to medium low heat, sauté the garlic and onions in hemp oil for 5 minutes or until translucent. In a food processor, add the cashews, hemp hearts, sauteéd onions and garlic, salt, white pepper, nutmeg, lemon juice, nutritional yeast and miso paste, and run the machine to chop everything as fine as you can get. Take the top off, scrape down the sides and continue to process everything while you stream in the hemp milk and stock. This makes a smooth sauce.
3.) Gather all your pasta ingredients. In a big pan, sauté the garlic in olive oil for a minute. Add all your vegetables and the sauce and gently heat on low for 5 minutes. Toss your whole wheat spaghetti in the cashew pasta sauce, garnish with basil if desired, serve and enjoy!
Tips
- Storing and shelf life: for leftovers keep the sauce (7 days) and the cooked pasta (4 days) in separate air tight containers in the fridge.
- When boiling pasta, season the water with salt for flavorful noodles and oil to avoid the dry spaghetti from sticking together.
- For a thicker sauce, add less liquid. For a thinner sauce, add more liquid. Always season to taste at the end!
- Soaking the cashews for at least 4 hours will give you a smooth finish to your alfredo sauce. Overnight is best. If you are in a rush or somehow forgot to soak the nuts, bring water in a pot to a boil, turn it off, and soak the cashews in them for at least 20 minutes to soften.
- Hemp hearts really only take 10 minutes to soak in room temperature water. You can also skip this step without changing the texture too much.
Q&A
- Can I use a different type of nut instead of cashews? I would avoid doing so because of the different flavors different types of nuts have. Cashews are creamy, neutral, milky and not as strong and toasty as other nuts hence they are the perfect nut for a savory application in alfredo sauce
- Can I use regular miso? You can use any type of miso you choose if you decide not to go soy-free. Yellow or white miso works in this recipe.
