I did find a vegan Alfredo recipe in a cookbook but it fell far short of the original. It had NUTMEG in it, for goodness sakes! Ewww! I started removing ingredients and working on it and then....
One day while reading a new VegNews, there it was. Amazing Alfredo. It looked delicious! And it was but it still had that pesky nutmeg in the ingredient list. Yuck. I love nutmeg, but never I'm a savory dish. So here is my very simple adaptation of Amazing Alfredo.
Ginger's Vegan Alfredo Sauce
1 cup raw cashews
2 tbsp raw pine nuts
1 to 1 1/4 cups water
4 cloves garlic
1 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (heaping if you're like me or reduce the amount if you're just not that brave)
In a blender, grind the nuts. Add water and garlic and blend until completely smooth. Taste and add salt and cayenne pepper. Adjust seasonings.
Pour into a small saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring almost constantly, for 7 minutes.
Cook 1 pound of pasta. I used whole wheat penne. I prefer my Alfredo sauce served with a tube shaped pasta that holds all the yummy sauce. I had also cut up about 3 cups of broccoli florets and had them waiting in the colander. When I drained the pasta over the broccoli, it cooked it just enough to be bright green but it retained some of the crunch. If you like your broccoli softer, add it to the pasta water for about 2-3 minutes before the pasta is done.
Serve with the yummy sauce. Enjoy! I have to admit I love this even more than the "real" Alfredo sauce. So does my 17-year-old daughter.
How simple! I'll be trying this.
ReplyDeleteJust ordered raw nuts.....now when they arrive in a couple of weeks, I can try this. LOL There was some other receipe that called for raw cashews...maybe a mayo one....
ReplyDeleteOK Vitacost sells raw cashews but not raw pine nuts...would simple pine nuts work?
ReplyDeleteDeEtta, I think regular pine nuts would work just as well. The pine nuts just adds a certain amount of richness to the sauce.
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