Creamy Cheesy Butternut Pasta with Broccoli
Ingredients
- 6 oz pasta of choice (these were rigatoni)
- 2 cups of frozen broccoli florets
Sauce
- 2 cups of fresh cubed butternut squash (about 1/2 small butternut)
- 1 cup of raw, unsalted cashews
- 1 cup of filtered water
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1/2 small lemon, the juice
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp cornstarch (optional!)
- 1/2 tsp sea salt (or start with a pinch and add more to taste)
- 1 pinch of pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder (or 1 garlic clove)
- 1 tsp onion powder (or the white part of 1 green onion)
Preparation
Start by boiling the cubed butternut in water for 10-15 minutes or until they’re no longer firm. Note: if you’re using frozen butternut chunks, you can simply sauté them in a skillet with 1-2 tbsp water for 5-6 min since those don’t take as long.
While the butternut is cooking, start cooking your pasta according to package instructions and prepping your sauce ingredients. About 4 minutes before the pasta is ready, add the frozen broccoli to the same pot (if you’re using fresh broccoli, do so 2 min before it’s ready).
Once the butternut is ready, add it to a high speed blender with the other sauce ingredients and blend on high for at least 2-3 min or until everything is smooth and creamy.
Drain the pasta and broccoli, transfer it back to the pot and mix it with the sauce. The heat of the pasta and sauce should even each other out making it ready to eat, but you can also reheat it all for a minute or two.
Serve and enjoy. Feel free to add some fresh herbs and/or chili flakes if you’d like.
