Vegan Cashew Alpha-re-do Sauce

make this gorgeous indulgent sauce and serve it over pasta. no soy, no pine nuts, cashews instead of cheez.




whole semolina pastas are my favorite but dont be shy about using whole wheat or spelt pastas or any other. its ALL good.


Ingredients:

1 cup vegetable stock
1 cup raw cashews

generous dollop of hazelnut oil, as needed

1 head garlic minced or less to taste
1 small onion, chopped smallish
4 - 5 mushrooms chopped in chunks
1/2 of a red bell pepper fine chopped (I didn’t have one this time)

1/2 pound whole grain or corn & rice pasta
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes
1 cup fresh spinach chopped in thin slivers
a few fresh basil leaves coarsely chopped
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
hazelnut or coconut mylk, a few spoonfuls as needed, optional



How to:

1. make vegetable broth according to your favorite recipe (or see below) strain one cup and for this recipe and reserve the rest for soup.

2. bring this stock it to boil, and then remove from heat. Add the cashews to the broth and cover, allowing them to soak for at least 2 hours.

3. Chop the garlic, mushrooms and onions (red bell pepper is nice here too)– separately chop the spinach and basil

4. Pour the cashews and broth into a blender and puree them until creamy.

5. Cook pasta according to package directions, .

6. While it cooks, add garlic to the in a cast iron skillet then the mushrooms and onion. Cook over a medium heat until onion is translucent then throw in the spinach and basil and cook another 30 seconds or so.

7. Pour cashew mixture into the skillet with the veggies and add sea salt, nutritional yeast, chili and turmeric. Heat until sauce comes to a very low simmer.

8. if the sauce is to thick, add a mylk to get the desired consistency.

9. Pour over pasta and enjoy the decadance!


A Vegetable Stock Recipe

Ingredients:
1 gallon cold water
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
1 medium stalk of celery, chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped
½ medium turnip, chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 bay leaf
½ tsp dried thyme
3-4 fresh parsley stems
3-4 whole black peppercorns
1 whole clove
Salt if desired

first:
Make a sachet d'epices by tying the thyme, peppercorns, clove, parsley stems and bay leaf into a piece of cheesecloth. Alternatively they can go in loose if preferred.

then:
In a heavy-bottomed stock pot or soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Lower the heat, add all the vegetables and cook with the lid on, for about 5 minutes or until the onions are softened and slightly translucent not browned.

finally:
Add the water and the sachet (or loose herbs), bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Simmer for 30-45 minutes.

Strain, cool and refrigerate.
The veggies can be pureed for other dishes or kept in the broth for soup if they have been first chopped to bite size pieces before adding to the second step
.
Makes 1 gallon of stock.