Creamy Vegan Red Pepper Pasta with Cashews
Ingredients
- 4 red peppers
- 1 onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- 60g cashews
- 400g whole grain spaghetti
- 250ml plant milk
- 1 tbsp mixed dried herbs
- 50g sun-dried tomatoes
- 1 tsp vinegar
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- other spices like salt, pepper, curry etc.
Toppings
- handful of fresh herbs
- handful of cashews
- red chilli flakes or other desired toppings
Preparation
To make this meal even healthier, add cooked vegetables as a side dish.
Preheat the oven to 230°C / 446°F.
Meanwhile, transfer the cashews to a bowl and cover in hot water straight from a kettle. Leave to one side to soak.
When the oven is hot enough, add the red peppers to a roasting tray and roast for 15 minutes.
Slice the onion into quarters. Remove the tray from the oven. Add the quartered onions and garlic cloves to the tray with the peppers, and return to the oven for another 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta in boiling water as per packet instructions, then drain and rinse under cold water, but make sure you reserve the pasta water for later!
Transfer the roasted red peppers to a blender along with the onion and garlic. Next, drain the cashews and add them to the blender, along with the plant milk, 250ml of the pasta water you reserved earlier, mixed herbs, sun-dried tomatoes, vinegar, nutritional yeast, and other spices.
Blend everything until the sauce reaches a lovely smooth consistency, which can take a minute or so. Give the sauce a taste and add more seasoning if necessary.
Pour the sauce into a large saucepan on a low-medium heat. Gently heat the sauce until it begins to bubble, then add the spaghetti and heat it through for a minute or two.
Meanwhile, roughly chop the cashews and toast them in a pan on a medium-high heat until they begin to brown. This should take a couple of minutes.
When you’re ready to serve, distribute the pasta into bowls. Roughly chop the basil leaves and sprinkle them on top, followed by the toasted cashews and other toppings you desire like red chilli flakes. Enjoy.
