I love pasta. Think I have professed my love for pasta many a time. To be more specific, I love creamy pastas! Now that creaminess can come from a gorgeous béchamel sauce or a creamy avocado pesto cashew sauce or a plain and simple, cashew cream sauce.

I recently made a vegan version of the cashew cream sauce that I added to my pasta. I also omitted the cream, used almond milk, and added some cheese to keep it healthy and lower on calories.

PREPARATION TIME: 10 minutes
COOKING TIME: 20 minutes
SERVINGS: 2
DIFFICULTY SCALE: Easy

Cashew_Cream_Pasta
Cashew-Cream-Pasta

INGREDIENTS:
1. Cashews – 1 cup
2. Almond milk – ¾ cup
3. Cheese – ¼ cup, grated
4. Garlic – 2 pods
5. Olives – 3-4
6. Basil Leaves – a handful
7. Pasta – 1.5 cups
8. Olive Oil – 2-3 tablespoons
9. Dried herbs – 1 tablespoon
10. Chilli flakes – 1 teaspoon
11. Salt – to taste

UTENSILS/EQUIPMENT:
1. Big pan – to bowl the pasta
2. Colander
3. A wok/kadhai
4. A blender
5. Grater

RECIPE:
1. Soak the cashews in water for 4-5 hours. If you don’t have a lot of time, then soak them in boiling water for 30 minutes or so.
2. Once they are properly soaked, add them into a blender along with 2 cloves of garlic and a tablespoon of olive oil.
3. Blend until you get a smooth paste.
4. Add in the almond milk and mix well.
5. In a big pan, add boiling water, some salt and some olive oil.
6. Add in your pasta and let it cook for 12-15 minutes until its cooked well and is al-dente.
7. Drain the pasta in a colander. Save some of that boiling water.
8. In a nonstick pan, add a little olive oil and add in the cashew cream. Add in the grated cheese and mix until the cheese is dissolved.
9. Add in the pasta and some of that saved water.
10. Add some salt, dried herbs and chilli flakes and mix well.
11. Top it up with some diced olives and chopped basil leaves and serve fresh!

You can make extra cashew cream and save it in your refrigerator for about 10 days. Remember to pour a layer of olive oil on top which would prevent it from going stale.