My husband and I are both mostly Pescatarians but we like to go Vegan for 1-2 months a year as a detox. I also intersperse our regular family meals with Vegan dishes such as this spin on Fettuccine Alfredo. I LOVE Alfredo on pasta, but sometimes it does not love me. Worst case of food poisoning EVER was from Alfredo sauce at two different restaurants — which kind of put me off ordering Alfredo when I eat out. That whole adage of fool me once, shame on you, but fool me twice it is shame on me. I was’t interested in a third round. SO I generally make Alfredo at home. Classic alfredo is made from milk and butter, flour and cheese, but to make this rick sauce vegan, you have two ditch three of the four, may as well ditch them all and make this a glorious vegan and gluten free sauce!!
We enjoyed this vegan Gluten-free Alfredo served over zucchini and yellow squash noodles (Spirooli Rules!) mixed with sautéed scallions and baby portabella mushrooms. This creamy Alfredo sauce is made from steamed cauliflower, raw cashews (soaked overnight), vegetable broth and almond milk with salt & pepper and a dash of nutmeg. It is super easy and super good too.
Buy raw cashews and soak them over night in water or broth for use in this recipe or others that require dairy or to make a nut cheese. This recipe which serves 2-3 people uses just one cup of raw cashews. cover them with liquid and cover the container and allow it to sit overnight. The cashews will swell and soften to a creamy consistency.
Core your head of fresh cauliflower and cut it up into 1 inch chunks. Fill the bottom of a stockpot with 2 inches of water. Set up the steamer basket and put in the cauliflower florets. Cover with a tight fitting lid and steam over medium-high heat for about 6-8 minutes until it is tender.
Drain the cashews and put them in your processor, process smooth and then start adding the other ingredients beginning with hot broth and so on. You process between each addition because you want your end product to be creamy smooth. Season it and adjust according to your tastes. You can also adjust the thickness or thinness by adding either more almond milk or cauliflower.
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked overnight
- 1 head cauliflower, cored and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 cup hot vegetable broth
- ¼ cup plain unsweetened almond milk
- 4 scallions, chopped
- 3 Tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1¼ cup cooking wine
- 3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ⅛ tsp cayenne pepper
- ½ tsp salt
- Steam the cauliflower until just tender. Remove from the heat, uncover, and set aside
- Drain the soaked cashews and transfer to a high speed blender or food processor
- Add the 1 cup of hot broth, and process until smooth and creamy
- Add 2 cups of the steamed cauliflower, almond milk, scallions, nutritional yeast, wine, lemon juice, garlic powder, cayenne and salt. Blend until very smooth
- Taste and adjust the seasonings if needed (Don’t be afraid to be bold when salting and flavoring the sauce. The flavor will be diluted when added to the pasta.)
- For a thicker sauce, add more cauliflower. For a thinner sauce add more almond milk
- Save the leftovers in the fridge.
Enjoy!
